
Class _ 
Book 



OFi'IOIAL nONATION. 



A Compilation 

OF THE 

Decisions 

OF THE 

Superintendents 
of Public Instruction 

of Colorado 

1877-1902 



HELEN L. GRENFELL 

Superintendent of Public Instruction 




{ Of OONBI^ES^ 



DENVER, COLORADO 

THE SMITH-BROOKS PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS 

1903 



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A Compilation 

OF THE 

Decisions 

OF THE 

Superintendents 
of Public Instruction 

of Colorado 

1877-1902 



HELEN L. GRENFELL 

Superintendent of Public Instruction 




DENVER, COLORADO 

THE SMITH-BROOKS PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS 

igoj 



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TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Appeals 7 

Bible 7 

Bonds 9 

Census 11 

Certificates 12 

Citizen 20 

Compulsory Education 20 

Contracts 21 

County Superintendents 24 

Course of Study 26 

Current Year 27 

Directors 27 

Discipline 37 

Elections 37 

Electors 43 

Examinations 43 

Funds 45 

High Schools 49 

Holidays 52 

Kindergarten Teachers 52 

Library 53 

Loans 53 

Meetings 53 

Normal Institutes 54 

Punishment 54 

Pupils 55 

Residence 56 

Salary 59 

School 61 

School Buildings. 62 

School Districts 65 

Taxes 72 

Teachers 75 

Text Books 81 

Tuition 81 

Warrants 82 

Year 85 



INTRODUCTION. 



To the county superintendents, teachers and other school 
officials of Colorado is offered this compilation of the decisions 
of the State Superintendents, as published since the year 1877 
up to June 30, 1902, in so far as the same have not become 
obsolete by amendments or court decisions. Much time has been 
necessarily consumed whenever a question upon school law has 
arisen, in determining whether the question had before been 
passed upon, and, therefore, this work had become a necessity for 
the administration of the Department of Public Instruction, as 
well as for the guidance of the county superintendents and school 
officers in general. 

The large amount of matter covered by the decisions made 
it practically necessary to prepare an index to the publication. 

It was not thought to be part of the work of the compiler to 
attempt to harmonize the decisions. When decisions were directly 
in conflict with one another the earlier has been allowed to stand. 
When conflicts are only partial, both decisions appear. 

HELEN L. GRENPBLL, 
Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
October 30, 1902. 



A COMPILATION OF THE DECISIONS 

OF THE 

Superintendents of Public Instruction 
of colorado 



APPEALS. 



1. The remedy against unjust orders of the county super- 
intendent is an appeal to the State Board of Education. 

2. An appeal to the State Board of Education does not lie 
when made by any one other than a person or board of directors 
aggrieved by an order or decision of the county superintendent. 

3. Any person or district board aggrieved by any decision 
of the county superintendent in a matter of law or fact, may 
within thirty days of the rendition of such decision, appeal to 
the State Board of Education, full details in regard to such ap- 
peal being given. 



BIBLE. 



1. Neither the Constitution of the state nor the statutes 
touch directly the reading of the Bible or prayer or any other 
form of religious or devotional exercises, except to forbid 
that observance or participation shall be compulsory. The 
spirit of the Constitution permits religious exercises in school 
if nothing sectarian is introduced and the trustees do not ob- 
ject. The laws of the different states bearing on this point 
differ. In Iowa "neither the electors, the board of directors nor 
the sub-directors can exclude the Bible from any school in 
the state." In Missouri, on the other hand, "the directors may 
compel the reading of the Bible." In Dakota "the Bible may 



be read in school not to exceed ten minutes daily, without 
sectarian comment." In 1869 the Cincinnati board of educa- 
tion forbade the reading of the Bible in the public schools of 
that city. An appeal was taken to the courts, and in 1870 the Su- 
perior Court of Cincinnati decided against the board of edu- 
cation. In 1873 the Supreme Court of Ohio reversed this 
judgment and sustained the board of education. In delivering 
their opinion the judges "held that the management of the 
public schools being under the exclusive control of directors, 
trustees and boards of education" it rested with them solely 
to determine "what instruction should be given and what books 
should be read therein." The contest was very excited and 
attracted wide attention. The discussion in the two courts 
is probably the most exhaustive to be found on the subject. 

2. The authority conferred on boards of directors by the 
school law of Colorado (section 51), "to fix the course of 
study, the exercises and the kind of text books to be used," 
would seem to make very applicable the decision of the Supreme 
Court of Ohio. A teacher can not safely disregard in such a 
matter the request of the board. 

3. The courts of Colorado have not rendered a decision 
concerning the interpretation of section 8 of the 1897 school 
law, which has been construed by this office as follows: 

"The use of the Bible as a text book in the public schools 
and the stated reading thereof in such schools, without restric- 
tion, 'has a tendency to inculcate sectarian ideas,' and is sec- 
tarian instruction. Sectarian instruction is instruction in the 
doctrines held by one or other of the various religious sects, 
and not by the rest. State vs. School Board, 44 N. W. Rep. 
(Wis.), 975 (1890). 

"The stated reading of the Bible in the public schools, as a 
text book, may be 'worship' and such reading in the school 
room makes it a place of worship within the meaning of the 
Wisconsin Constitution, to which use a school house can not 
be devoted as against an objecting taxpayer. State vs. School 
Board, 44 N. W. Rep. (Wis.), 979 (1890)." 

(Not in accordance with earlier opinion.) 

4. The law of Colorado does not specify concerning the 
reading of the Bible in the public schools, the school boards of 
the state having the right to specify as to what shall be the 
practice in the matter. 



BONDS. 

1. A county treasurer is legally entitled to two per cent, 
commission on money paid to him from the sale of school bonds. 
He is also entitled to a commission for collecting taxes to be 
used in paying both principal and interest on school bonds; 
but he is not entitled to a commission for paying out the 
money. 

2. In estimating a maximum amount of bonds that can 
be issued by a school district, the estimate must be based upon 
the last complete assessed valuation. 

3. A school district created from organized territory, 
which is already bonded for building purposes, can issue new 
bonds to an amount not to exceed the difference between its 
share of the present bonded indebtedness and three and one- 
half per cent, of the assessed value of its property, both real 
and personal. 

4. Lands to which title has not been obtained from the 
government at the time school bonds are issued by a district of 
which such lands form a part are not subject to tax for the 
payment of such bonds. Hence, if said lands are set off or 
detached from the district before title is perfected, they are 
not subject to a bond tax in the original district when title 
is complete. 

5. State or government lands occupied under contract of 
purchase., title having already been acquired and land deeded, 
are subject to assessment the same as other lands for the 
payment of bonds issued by the school district of which they 
form a part, or such portion of said bonds, if any, that remain 
unpaid; provided, "That said lands were deeded before said 
bonds had matured." 

6. The petition asking that a meeting be called for the 
purpose of voting school district bonds must be signed by 
not less than twenty legal voters. A majority of the qualified 
electors assembled at such a meeting may vote bonds; provided, 
"That such qualified electors shall have paid a school tax in 
such district for the year next preceding such election." 

7. Any person not a taxpayer, but otherwise a legal voter, 
is entitled to vote at a regular or special district school meet- 
ing upon all matters coming before such meeting, except upon 
a proposition to contract a debt by loan. 



10 



8. In no case shall the aggregate bonded indebtedness of 
any school district exceed three and one-half per cent, of the 
assessed value of the property of said district. 

9. A district voting bonds for the building of a school 
house can not legally bind itself to set aside part of the pro- 
ceeds of these bonds for another school house to be built 
later in another part of the district. A remote part of the 
district can not take steps after bonds have been voted, and 
before they are issued, to set itself apart and form a new dis- 
trict, thus avoiding its liability for interest and principal on 
the bonds. 

10. It is illegal to vote bonds in case there are not twenty 
voters in the district. 

11. A board of directors can not legally establish a sink- 
ing fund for the payment of bonds. 

12. No notice to the electors of a proposed vote on the 
question of bonding a district is necessary, except the ordinary 
notice of a special meeting. (Notice of special meeting always 
stating purpose.) 

13. It is lawful for the ballot box for voting on the ques- 
tion of bonding the district to be open at the same time as the 
one for the election of school officers. 

14. On the question of bonding a district, those electors 
have the right to vote "who have paid a school tax therein in 
the year next preceding the said meeting." The word "year" 
is construed to mean the twelve months immediately preceding 
the meeting or election. 

15. The main points to be considered in connection with 
a meeting called for the purpose of issuing bonds are: 

1. Twenty legal voters petition the board. 

2. The secretary gives not less than twenty days' 
notice of the meeting. 

3. Those legal voters of the district who have paid 
a school tax therein during the preceding year deter- 
mine the amount of indebtedness to be created. 

4. Those same voters then vote "for the bonds" or 
"against the bonds." 

5. A majority of the votes being for the bonds, 
the directors issue the same, the maximum bonded in- 
debtedness allowed by law being 3 1-2 per cent, of the 
valuation of the district. 



11 



16. The law makes no provision by whicli a school dis- 
trict can legally issue bonds if there is not the required number 
of voters specified by law residing in the district to vote upon 
the question of issuing bonds. 

17. It is not legal to vote upon the matter of issuing bonds 
at a special meeting unless said special meeting has been called 
upon petition of twenty legal voters of the school district, re- 
questing that the question of contracting a bonded debt for 
the purpose of erecting and furnishing a school building, for 
purchasing ground or for funding floating debts will be sub- 
mitted, and due notification must be given. 

18. Voters who have paid a school tax within the year 
upon property which at the time the tax was paid v/as in another 
district but at the time they offered to vote on the question of 
issuing bonds was by annexation in the district where they 
offer to vote, are legally qualified to so vote. 



CENSUS. 



1. If territory is added to a district after the annual census 
of that district has been taken, the names of persons of school 
age residing in the annexed territory should be added to the 
census list and the district given its per capita for such addi- 
tional names. 

2. Deaf mutes and blind persons between the ages of six 
and twenty-one should be included in the school census. 

3. The names of all persons of school age must be in- 
cluded in the census. The law makes no exception in regard 
to married persons. 

4. No name can be added to a census list after said list 
has been filed with the county superintendent. 

5. A person of school age can not be enrolled in the school 
census of a district in which he does not reside, though his father 
is employed and boards in said district and claims his residence 
therein, when it appears that such person of school age has 
never actually been in said district and when he actually lives 
In a foreign country or state or when he is properly enrolled in 
any other school district in this state. 



12 



6. It would not be legal to enroll the persons of school age 
belonging to the state Industrial schools in Jefferson county 
upon the census lists of the school districts where the schools 
are located, providing such persons have a residence elsewhere. 
The names of such persons would appear upon the census lists 
and would draw from the general school fund for the benefit of 
the districts in which is their true residence, and the state makes 
its own special provision for the education of such persons in 
the industrial schools. 



CERTIFICATES. 

1. State certificates issued by other states are not recog- 
nized by the law of Colorado. Persons who wish to teach in 
this state must hold certificates issued upon examination by 
the proper district, county or state authority. 

2. In districts of the first class the school directors have en- 
tire charge of the examination of applicants for positions in 
the schools of their district. 

3. A certificate to teach can not be annulled or withdrawn 
from a holder without cause for so doing. Section 10 of the Colo- 
rado school law especially provides for such vases. 

4. A person holding a certificate issued by the county super- 
intendent of one of the counties that was divided by the 
last General Assembly, and wishing to teach in the new county 
created by such division, should be treated the same as one 
living in a different county from the one in which he wished 
to teach. If he hold a first grade certificate the county super- 
intendent may issue a duplicate certificate according to section 
16, otherwise the applicant must be examined and. receive a 
certificate from the county superintendent of the county in 
which he proposes to teach. 

5. A certificate to teach can not be revoked by a county 
superintendent without having good and sufficient reasons fo|; 
so doing. Alleged exorbitant wages named in a contract be- 
tween him and the directors of a district would not be lawful 
reason for revoking a certificate unless fraud of some kind 
could be shown. 

6. When a certificate is revoked by a county superintend- 
ent such revocation takes effect on the day named by him, and 
the holder thereof can not lawfully teach during the pendency of 
an appeal to the State Board of Education. 



13 



7. A first grade certificate can not be renewed if presented 
for renewal after the expiration of the time for which it was 
issued. 

8. A person can not be legally employed to teach in the 
public schools for any length of time, however short, unless 
such person has a certificate to teach, issued by the proper 
authorities. 

9. A first grade certificate issued in one county can 
not be renewed by a county superintendent of another county. 

10. The "certificate of like grade," mentioned in section 
16, is in force for the unexpired term of the original certificate. 

11. Certificates issued by districts of the first class are 
valid only within such district. 

12. The granting of a "duplicate" first grade certificate is 
optional with the county superintendent to whom application 
is made. 

13. All certificates to teach should be dated as if issued 
on the last day of a regular examination. 

14. An offer to teach for unreasonably low wages is 
neither a good nor a sufiicient reason for refusing to grant a 
certificate. 

15. The State Superintendent has no authority to grant a 
certificate to teach except when directed to do so by a vote 
of the State Board of Education in cases of appeal and of state 
examination. 

16. A person holds a certificate that expires September 8. 
He begins school under contract on September 1. He fails to 
obtain a certificate in the examination held on August 29-30, and 
appeals to the State Board of Education. Held, that he may con- 
tinue his school during the pendency of an appeal. 

17. In case of appeal from the decision of county super- 
intendent to the State Board of Education by an applicant for 
certificate at a regular examination, the certificate, if any, 
issued to said applicant upon such examination, should accom- 
pany the papers sent to the State Board. 

18. A teacher holding a certificate to teach, issued by the 
proper authority, is entitled to all the rights and emoluments 
implied thereby until certificate is revoked for cause. 



14 



19. The discretionary power vested in county superintend- 
ents in the granting of certificates should be used cautiously; 
especially when the applicant averages low in such important 
branches as arithmetic and grammar. 

20. A first grade certificate may be renewed, indefinitely, 
without examination, in the county in which it was originally 
issued. 

21. "If a county superintendent desires to obtain a cer- 
tificate to teach in the county in which he resides, he is ad- 
vised to appoint a deputy to conduct the examination and 
pass upon the answers given to the questions propounded; also, 
to issue a certificate in accordance with the result of the ex- 
amination." — Dick. 

22. Second and third grade certificates can not be legally 
renewed. 

23. The school law makes no provision for the issuing of 
a certificate of like grade to the holder of a second or third 
grade certificate. 

24. The clause "Provided, however, that no more than two 
certificates of the same grade shall be issued to the same per- 
son," is interpreted as referring to third grade certificates. 
Section 16, 1897 School Law. 

25. "Permission to teach one month after the expiration 
of certificate" is for the purpose of providing against closing 
the school in case of the failure of the ieacher to obtain cer- 
tificate at the last county examination. Section 60, 1897 School 
Law. 

26. The endorsing of a teacher's certificate issued in an- 
other county is optional with the county superintendent. 

27. Applicants for teachers' certificates must take the 
county examination at the time provided by the school law. 

28. Section 15, Colorado School Law: The county super- 
intendent "May, however, in case of emergency, recognize 
county teachers' certificates issued in this, or other states, by 
endorsing thereon the words 'good until the next regular county 
examination;' Provided, That the certificate so endorsed shall 
be in full force at the date of such endorsement, and shall not 
be renewed, extended, nor show a previous endorsement thereon." 



15 



Under this act, an emergency may be said to exist when- 
ever there is a vacancy in any school in the county, and there 
can not be found in the county a teacher who holds a certificate, 
and who is q.ualified to teach that particular school, and whose 
services can be secured. 

It is not said that there may not arise other conditions 
which, in the opinion of the county superintendent, might con- 
stitute an emergency, but the above is given as a general rule. 

29. In all cases, the endorsing of certificates is optional 
with the county superintendent. 

30. A district board has not, in law or equity, a right to 
deliberately make its circumstances for the purpose of taking 
advantage of the emergency clause in that section of the stat- 
ute which provides for granting and endorsing teachers' cer- 
tificates. 

31. Circumstances created for a certain purpose do not 
constitute an emergency, and should not be construed as such. 

32. Teachers' certificates issued by the board of directors 
of first class districts must be reported to the county superin- 
tendent. 

33. The life of a first grade certificate is three years. Such 
certificate may be renewed by the county superintendent in the 
county in which it was originally issued at the time, or imme- 
diately before its expiration. 

34. State Normal School diplomas and certificates from 
other states, or certificates from other counties in this state, 
may be recognized by the county superintendent only in case of 
an emergency. "Under this act an emergency may be said to 
exist whenever there is a vacancy in any school of the county, 
and there can not be found in the county a teacher who holds 
a certificate and who is qualified to teach that particular school, 
and whose services can be secured." 

Such recognition consists of an endorsement by the county 
superintendent, making the certificate good only until the next 
examination. 

35. Certificates may be granted only upon examination held 
at the time and place specified by law. If the superintendent 
wishes to hold an examination at another place than the county 
seat, he must appoint a deputy who will hold the examinjition 
on the prescribed day. 



16 



36. The year's experience required for a first grade cer- 
tificate is construed to mean twelve months. 

37. Certificates below the first grade may not be renewed. 

38. The renewal of a first grade certificate is optional with 
the county superintendent. 

39. An applicant for a teacher's certificate must accept 
the result of the examination, even though the certificate re- 
ceived be of a lower grade than the unexpired certificate held 
at the time of taking the examination. 

40. The life of a like grade certificate is concurrent with 
that of the original in lieu of which it was issued. 

41. A like grade certificate may be issued in lieu of a first 
grade certificate which has been renewed in the county where 
issued. 

42. A like grade certificate may be issued in lieu of a first 
grade even though the first grade show previous endorsement. 

43. A like grade certificate may be issued only to a person 
who is to teach in the county where such certificate is issued. 

44. The endorsement or renewal of certificates and the 
issuing of like grade certificates are in all cases optional with 
the county superintendent. 

45. The five per cent, credit for attending normal insti- 
tute may be given at any examination during the year imme- 
diately following such attendance. 

46. A county superintendent is under ' no obligations to 
add five per cent, to the standing of applicants for teachers' 
certificates who attend the normal institute of a district other 
that his own. 

47. A county superintendent may renew his own certifi- 
cate or the certificate of a former superintendent. The fact that 
he is teaching in no way affects this right. 

48. There is absolutely no authority in law for a temporary 
permit or certificate of any nature whatever. 

49. A first grade certificate can not be renewed after it has 
expired. 



17 



50. A normal institute certificate need not be endorsed. 
The certificate is good until revoked by the State Board of 
Education or uMil the expiration of the time specified on the face 
of the certificate. 

51. The one year's successful teaching required for eligi- 
bility to a first grade certificate is not restricted to teaching 
in Colorado. 

52. The State Superintendent has no authority whatever 
to waive in any. manner the requirements of law for a license 
to teach, nor to grant a temporary certificate or permit, nor to 
authorize a county superintendent to grant such certificate or 
permit. 

53. A like grade certificate may be issued in lieu of a 
renewed first grade. The renewal of a first grade deprives it of 
none of its legal force. 

54. As it is entirely discretionary with the county super- 
intendent whether or not a first grade certificate shall be 
either renewed or recognized by a "like grade," a first-grade 
can not in any case be considered equivalent to a state certifi- 
cate, which must be recognized in every part of the state during 
the life of the holder. 

55. It would be illegal for the school board to pay the 
teachers unless they are provided with certificates issued in the 
county or with certificates recognized in some way by the county 
superintendent. Any elector of the district or the county super- 
intendent can, through legal process, prevent the board from 
paying out money as wages to teachers without the necessary 
certificates. 

The laws of Colorado do not give county superintendents 
the slightest authority to recognize district certificates in any 
way. Such certificates are valueless so far as entitling their 
holders to a right to teach in other schools of the county is 
concerned. 

57. There is absolutely nothing that can be done in the 
case of an expired certificate of any grade. A second-grade 
certificate could not be renewed even if unexpired. The laws of 
Colorado do not permit the endorsement of unexpired certif- 
icates; neither do they permit the holding of special exam- 
inations. 

58. The laws of Colorado do not give the State Super- 
intendent the right to endorse certificates of any kind from 
other states. 



18 



59. When a district of the first class has issued district 
certificates in recognition of first grade county certificates and 
one of the county certificates is revoked by the county super- 
intendent, assuming that the certificate referred to was granted 
under the last clause of section 16 of the state school law, the 
county certificate being taken as evidence of scholastic attain- 
ments instead of an examination being held upon which to 
grant the district certificate, and also that the county certifi- 
cate was taken by the district board as satisfactory evidence 
of adequate training, etc., the revocation of the county certifi- 
cate would not revoke the district board's certificate any 
more than it would if the board's certificate had been granted 
on some other evidence. 

60. The fact that a teacher has not taught under either 
of the third grade certificates she has obtained would not give 
her any right to a third grade. 

61. It is illegal to renew a first grade certificate at any 
time other than the time when such certificate expires; nor 
should a like grade certificate be issued in accordance with the 
dates of such renewal if made. A like grade certificate should 
be so dated as to expire at the date the certificate would issue 
upon a proper renewal. 

62. It is not legal to change a second grade certificate to 
a first-grade certificate, no matter what the averages may be 
upon the certificate. It is absolutely necessary that the holder 
of said certificate should take an examination, making the 
grades required for a first grade certificate, to obtain such a. 
certificate. 

63. There is nothing in the law to compel a county super- 
intendent to recognize a teacher's certificate issued in any other 
county, even though a school board in the county superintend- 
ent's own county has engaged such teacher to do the school, 
work in the district. 

64. In renewing a first grade certificate one of two prac- 
tices should be observed. The certificate should be renewed for 
the full term for which the original was issued — that is, should 
be so renewed that the time should correspond with the date 
upon which the original expires — or the recognition should sim- 
ply be until the next examination. 

65. The law makes no provision for the writing of a du- 
plicate certificate for the convenience of the person holding a 
first grade certificate. Special permission may be obtained by 



19 



a county superintendent to write a duplicate certificate in case 
the holder of the original gives proof of its being lost or de- 
stroyed. 

66. A certificate can not be made to extend beyond the time 
for which it was originally given, save through renewal in the 
proper manner of a first grade certificate. 

67. A first grade certificate may be renewed more than 
once, but it can not be renewed the second time before the first 
renewal has expired. 

68. The endorsement of a first grade certificate until the 
next examination will not invalidate it in the county where is- 
sued. 

69. A teacher's certificate may be revoked for immorality, 
incompetency, drunkenness or like cause. The fact that a per- 
son who applies for a teacher's certificate is a person of bad 
habits, who becomes intoxicated, or is a gambler, would be suf- 
ficient reason to refuse to grant him a certificate. Positive 
proof, however, should be in the possession of the county super- 
intendent when taking such action. 

70. A second grade certificate is not good for eighteen 
months' teaching; it is simply in force for eighteen months from 
the date upon which it was issued. 

71. Until a first class district is fully organized, so far as 
its board, etc., is concerned, in conformity with the provisions 
of the law relating to first class districts, the board of the dis- 
trict would have no right to grant certificates to the teachers 
employed. Until the board was fully organized as a first class 
board the teachers employed in the district should be required 
to take the regular county examination. 

72. The two years' teaching experience in Colorado required 
before an applicant may take the examination for a state cer- 
tificate has been interpreted to mean two full years' work in a 
graded school where the term is not less than nine months. 

73. It is not legal for a school board to engage a teacher 
who has no certificate, or whose certificate has expired, permit- 
ting her to open a school, except under the provisions of the 
law permitting a teacher to teach one month after the expiration 
of her certificate. The school board is personally liable for 
any salary paid to the teacher for any time she is employed 
without a certificate. 



20 



74. A like grade certificate can not be issued on a second 
grade certificate, though such second grade certificate has a first 
grade average. 

75. It would not be legal for the county superintendent to 
endorse a certificate issued in another state unless it were im- 
possible to obtain a teacher with a certificate issued in the 
county where the school is to be taught. An emergency in such, 
a case has been interpreted to mean the impossibility of obtain- 
ing a teacher with a certificate issued in the county. 

76. Except in the case of a formally taken appeal from the 
action of a county superintendent in refusing to grant a cer- 
tificate, the State Board of Education has no authority to pass 
upon the papers presented by an applicant at a teachers' exam- 
ination. 



CITIZEN. 



1. The wife of an alien becomes naturalized upon the natur- 
alization of her husband, and is a citizen, as the term is used 
in the School Law. 



COMPULSORY EDUCATION. 

1. It is the duty of the school board to enforce the compul- 
sory law. Complaint of its violation may be made by any elector 
of the district. 

2. The compulsory attendance law does not prohibit a pupil 
from being expelled from public schools, in proper cases. 

3. Under the act of 1889, it is made the duty of any school 
director of any school district in this state, to inquire into all 
cases of neglect of a parent, guardian or other person having 
control of any child or children between the ages of eight and 
fourteen years, to send such child or children to school for a 
period of at least twelve weeks in each year, and to prosecute 
any person guilty of such neglect. 

4. Any director of any school district wherein an offense 
is committed under the act, failing to prosecute the same after 
it shall be brought to his attention, may be deemed guilty of 
a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof may be subject tO' 
a fine of not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars. 



21 



5. The funds of the school district may be used to pay the 
expenses of procedure when it becomes necessary to compel 
parents to send children to school. 

6. Attendance is not compulsory at the State School for the 
Deaf and Blind. 

7. School directors of third class districts have the au- 
thority to inquire into all cases of neglect of duty in regard to 
sending children to school, as prescribed by law, and the 
school directors not only have the right to prosecute the perpe- 
trator of the offense, but it is made the bounden duty of any 
director to do so within ten days after a written notice has 
been served on him by any taxpayer of said district. The case 
may be brought before any justice court. 

8. The compulsory education law of 1899 applies to chil- 
dren in the state between the ages of fourteen and sixteen, who 
can not read and write the English language, or who are not en- 
gaged in some regular employment. 

Therefore, truant officers of the state are required to act 
with reference to children between the ages of fourten and six- 
teen, when the circumstances demand, as with children under the 
age of fourteen; also, county courts are required' by the law to 
take jurisdiction of such cases. 



CONTRACTS. 

1. A contract to teach made by two directors with the pro- 
posed teacher is valid, and the person so engaged to teach can 
collect the amount named in the contract as compensation for his 
services if he perform such services in accordance with the terms 
of the contract. 

2. A contract to teach made before the annual election of 
directors for the school year following such election is valid and 
binding upon the district when there is no evidence of an attempt 
to defeat the wishes of the electors by such action, and especially 
when a majority of the old board remain in office. 

3. Two members of a school board in districts of the second 
and third classes can make a legal contract without the consent 
of the third member; Provided, Such contract is made at a 
regular meeting, or at a special meeting legally called, and of 
which all the directors had legal notice. 



22 

4. The directors of a district have no legal right to make 
a contract with a teacher to pay wages in excess of the revenues 
for the year. 

5. A contract to teach, made by two members ot the board 
of directors, with a proposed teacher, is valid; Provided, Such 
contract is ordered at a regular meeting or at a special meeting 
legally called and of which all the directors had legal notice. 

6. A contract may be legal if not drawn according to the 
form in the school law; Provided, That both parties to the con- 
tract are aware of the terms contained in the contract, and pro- 
vided that such contract is made at a regular meeting or at a 
special meeting legally called, and of which all the directors had 
legal notice. 

7. An oral contract made between a teacher and a school 
board is as binding as a written one; Provided, That each party 
can prove the terms of the contract. 

8. A contract signed by two members of the board of 
directors is valid if made at a regular meeting or at a special 
meeting of which each director had due notice. A contract made 
in any other way is not valid. 

9. If a teacher receives from the secretary of a school board, 
in pursuance of an order of the board, a letter notifying him of 
the length of term and salary, such notification would stand in 
law as a contract should the teacher accept. 

10. A verbal promise given to a teacher by members of a 
school board at other than a regularly called meeting is not in 
any way binding upon the board. The members have a perfect 
right to engage some other person when a regular meeting of 
the board is held. 

11. It is not legal for a school board to engage a teacher 
for the school year 1901-1902 before May 1, 1901. In broader 
terms, it is illegal for a school board to contract with teachers 
before the annual election establishes a new board of school 
directors. 

12. In case a summer school is to begin in a district either 
before or on the day upon which the annual election is held, it 
would be legal for a board to engage a teacher for such a school. 



23 



13. Two members of a scliool board can not hire a teacher 
without giving the third member notice of a meeting, or without 
having any legal meeting. A teacher can not be legally hired 
by a school board, excepting at a regular or special meeting of 
the board, legally called, of which all the directors , have legal 
notice. 

14. A school board can legally let a contract to a man 
whose wife is a member of the school board, as the fact that the 
wife is a member and is, therefore, excluded from being a party 
to a contract with the district would in no way affect the husband, 
who is not a member of the school board. 

15. A contract made and agreed to by the majority of a 
school board is a legal contract if properly entered into in all 
respects. It is not in the power of one member of a board to 
block the action of the board by his refusal to do his duty. 

16. Any member of a board of directors who shall have any 
voice or vote in awarding a contract can not lawfully enter into 
any part in the fulfilling of said contract; nor can he take or 
receive any part or portion of the money specified in said con- 
tract, or be in any way, manner or degree interested in said 
contract, except in his official representative capacity. Any 
elector of the district or the county superintendent can take 
steps to prevent a member of the board from acting in violation 
of this law. 

17. Contracts made by a school district with a school 
director in violation of the law relative to public contracts are 
void. 

18. There is nothing in the school law of Colorado to prevent 
a board of directors in a district of the first class from making 
a contract with a teacher or superintendent for a term exceed- 
ing the school year. 

19. When a teacher enters into a contract with a board 
of directors to teach a certain number of months it is understood 
that customary vacations may be held, even though not specified 
in the contract, and that the teacher will not receive compensa- 
tion for the time occupied by said vacations, he being expected 
to teach the full number of months specified in the contract, aside 
from the time included in the vacations. 



24 



COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS. 

1. There is nothing in the School Law of this state to pre- 
vent a county superintendent from teaching in his county on 
account of his holding that office. 

2. A county superintendent has authority to require a dis- 
trict treasurer to give bond in double the amount of money lia- 
ble to come into his hands, if such amount exceeds $20. 

3. As between school directors and the county superintend- 
ent, the latter has advisory powers only in arranging course of 
study, selection of books and grading of schools. 

4. A county superintendent may legally change the bound 
aries of a school district without the vote of the electors of the 
district, when it is for the purpose of harmonizing the district 
boundaries. 

5. A county superintendent is the proper person to approve 
of the official bond of a school director, and if a person elected 
to that office can not give a satisfactory bond, it works a vacancy 
in the board after twenty days from his election. (See sec- 
tion 47, School Law.) 

6. A county superintendent can not remove a member oi 
a school board from office. 

7. In addition to other qualifications, a person to be eli- 
gible to the office of county superintendent must have resided 
in the county at least one year preceding his election. 

8. A county superintendent of a county of the first class 
may employ a deputy, whose salary shall be fixed by the board 
of county commissioners, and who shall be paid from the county 
treasury. 

9. When an applicant presents himself for the county ex- 
amination, the county superintendent has no course other than 
to receive and grade the papers and report the same to the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction. A county superintend- 
ent can not legally withhold a certificate at the request of a 
person who, as an applicant, appears at the examination. 

10. The county superintendent is under no obligation to 
grade papers of applicants under eighteen years of age. 



25 



11. The county superintendent has the right to exercise 
his own discretion in regard to the annexation of a portion of 
one district to another. 

12. A county superintendent may employ some one to do 
the work incidental to his office, the person thus employed to be 
remunerated by the county superintendent. 

13. The county superintendent is under no obligation to 
transfer territory from one district to another, even though a 
petition as prescribed by law has been presented to him asking 
for such transfer. He will change boundary lines only when in 
his judgment the educational interests of the districts affected 
will thus be best promoted. 

14. When the county commissioners make an appropria- 
tion for the county superintendent of schools for the fiscal year, 
the amount so appropriated is all that can be expended for that 
office during such fiscal year. 

15. By the act of 1891, the county superintendent of schools 
was entitled to five dollars per day for each day actually and 
necessarily employed for the county, and ten cents per mile for 
each mile actually and necessarily traveled in the performance 
of duty, regardless of the number of organized public schools 
in the county. 

16. Deputy county superintendents can only receive a per 
diem, such as may be fixed by the county superintendent and 
allowed by the county commissioners, and a failure to provide 
mileage leads to the conclusion that it was not intended that 
deputy superintendents should receive mileage at all. 

17. The State Superintendent has no authority whatever to 
authorize county superintendents to appoint deputies outside 
of the state; nor has he any right to send questions to any in- 
dividuals outside of this state so that the county teachers' exam- 
ination could be taken elsewhere than in Colorado. 

18. A county superintendent need not give bond as secre- 
tary of the county high school committee, since his bond as 
county superintendent covers all obligations imposed upon him 
as an official. 

19. The county superintendent has a vote as a member of 
a county high school committee. This also involves his voting 
whether there is or is not a tie. 



26 

20. A county superintendent has the right to demand the 
resignation of a member of a school board and to institute legal 
proceedings to remove an officer of a school district who is per- 
sistently violating the law and any elector of the district has 
the right to institute proceedings for the same purpose. 

21. The county superintendent has the right to protest 
against the registering of a school warrant when he has reason 
to suspect fraud, and if he has proof of fraud in connection with 
the warrant, he has the same right as an elector of the district 
to bring proceedings to stop the payment of the warrant. 



COURSE OF STUDY. 

1. As between school directors and the county superintend- 
ent, the latter has advisory powers only in arranging course o£ 
study, selection of books and grading of schools. 

2. All monthly and term reports provided for in the course 
of study must be furnished by the respective counties. 

3. The act providing for the study of the nature of alcoholic 
drinks and narcotics, and their effect upon the human system, 
requires the study of physiology and hygiene in all the public 
schools throughout the state. 

4. The board of directors of a district fixes the course of 
study for that district. 

5. The directors of third class districts have power to pre- 
scribe the course of study, and, therefore, may add such subjects 
as are deemed desirable without the organization of a high school. 

6. According to the school law of this state, the board of 
directors of a school district has the right to prescribe the course 
of study for the school. If the board prescribes that certain 
high school or ninth or tenth grade studies shall be taught, it 
may be done, but it is not expected that such work shall be a 
part of the course in the district school if it interferes with the 
work of the lower grades. 

7. Section 78, page 63 of the School Law of 1900, delegates 
to the school board the right to have German taught in the 
schools of a district upon the demand of the parents or guard- 
ians of twenty or more children, and no power whatever is 
delegated to the county superintendent to prevent the teaching 



of any branch authorized by the board of directors when such 
a branch is permitted by the laws of tlie state. 

8. The school board has no right to introduce German with- 
out a petition from the parents or guardians of twenty or more 
children of school age. 

9. A school board in a third class district can not be com- 
pelled by parents to put in ninth grade studies in the public 
schools of the district for pupils past the eighth grade. The 
school law gives the school directors of third class districts the 
sole right to fix the course of study. 

10. While the law does not permit the establishment of 
a high school in an ordinary third class district, it does not 
prohibit the introduction of certain branches that are termed 
high school branches. 



CURRENT YEAR. 

1. The current school year is identical with the fiscal year, 
beginning December 1st and ending November 30th. 



DIRECTORS. 

1. In districts of the first class the school directors have 
entire charge of the examination of applicants for positions in 
the schools of their districts. 

2. A pupil can be expelled by the board of directors for 
any offense that in its judgment deserves such a penalty. 

3. School directors of a district of the third class may pur- 
chase an organ for the use of the school and pay for it out of 
the special fund. The general fund can not be used for that 
purpose. 

4. Two members of a board in a district of the third class 
can legally contract for furniture for their school house, but 
such contract should be made or ratified by a vote at a reg- 
ular or special meeting of the board. The third member of 
such board can not legally refuse to sign warrants issued in 
payment of such furniture simply upon the ground that he con- 
siders such furniture unnecessary. If illegality or fraud exist 
then he can refuse, but the fact that he considers the furniture 



28 



unnecessary is only a matter of opinion, and he should he gov- 
erned by the opinion of the majority. 

5. Vacancies in school boards of the second and third 
classes must be filled by appointment made by the county super- 
intendent, and the person so appointed holds the position until 
the next annual school election. 

6. A contract to teach made by two directors with the pro- 
posed teacher is valid, and the person so engaged to teach can 
collect the amount named in the contract as compensation for 
his services if he perform such services in accordance with the 
terms of the contract. 

7. The appointment of persons to fill vacancies in districts 
of the second and third classes, is solely with the county super- 
intendent. If a director is absent from his district four months, 
it is a valid reason for appointing his successor in oflice. 

8. Where a division of a school district places a member of 
the school board in the new district it works a vacancy in 
the board of the old district, and does not make such person a 
member of the board in the new district. A full board must be 
chosen in the new district and all vacancies in the old district 
filled by appointment made by the county superintendent. 

9. A school board of a district of the third class has a legal 
right to purchase desks for a school building without a vote 
of the electors of the district. 

10. All school directors are required by law to file an 
oath of olfice with the county superintendent. This applies to 
such cities or districts in Colorado as are organized under a 
special charter. 

11. A county superintendent has authority to require a dis- 
trict treasurer to give bond in double the amount of money liable 
to come into his hands, if such amount exceeds twenty dollars. 

12. If the annual election of school directors is not held, 
and a special election is not called within the required ten days 
thereafter, it then devolves upon the county superintendent to 
fill vacancies by appointment. 

13. A school director can not be legally garnisheed in his 
official capacity. 



29 

14. Section 67, School Law, authorizes the school board to 
certify for a special school fund without instructions from the 
electors so to do. 

15. Section 62 provides for the relief of the electors, in case 
the board do not make necessary provisions for the schools. 

' 16. The school directors constitute the custodians of the 
school property of the district, and may at their option permit 
the use of the school house for other than school purposes. Any 
money thus obtained should be considered a part of the district 
school fund, and should be accounted for accordingly. 

17. A district board, having already constructed and fur- 
nished a school building, may subsequently erect a coal house or 
other simple outbuilding, for the convenience of the school, with- 
out a special vote of the electors, the outbuilding to be considered 
an appurtenance or appendage of the school building. 

18. A school board has a legal right to require such qualifi- 
cations of teachers as seem to them to be for the best interests 
of the school, provided such qualifications do not conflict with 
those required by the state. 

19. School directors are not legally entitled to witness fees 
in a case where the district is a party. 

20. Directors of first and second class districts have a right 
to sell a school building when directed so to do by the electors at 
a special meeting called for that purpose. Such sale should be 
made in the manner prescribed by the electors, which should be 
at public sale, after proper advertisement. 

21. The directors of a third class district can not legally pur- 
chase a school site without a favorable vote of the electors. 

22. A school director cannot legally become a teacher in the 
district in which hei holds that oflSce. See section 2606, General 
Statutes of Colorado, 1883; page 82. 

23. The power to employ or discharge teachers rests solely 
with the school board, and not with the county superintendent 
or directly with the electors of the district. This applies also to 
vacancies that may occur by reason of sickness or any other 
cause. 

24. A person elected to the office of director of a school dis- 
trict can not legally qualify after the expiration of twenty days 



30 



from election. By operation of the law, in case of failure of the 
director-elect to qualify within twenty days, the office becomes 
vacant. 

25. A school board has no authority to employ an interpre- 
ter in Mexican districts to help out a teacher who does not un- 
derstand the Spanish language. 

26. A school district of the second class having become a 
first class district, the board, at the first meeting after election,, 
should proceed to elect new officers (president, secretary and 
treasurer), as provided in section 41. The officers of the old dis- 
trict do not hold over after the change has been effected. 

27. The secretary is the proper custodian of the books, pa- 
pers and documents of a district school board, and is the one 
authorized to draw all warrants issued by the board, these to be 
countersigned by the president and treasurer. 

28. The secretary is the only officer of a district school 
board whom the law allows to draw pay for his services, and his 
pay is fixed by the board. 

29. A taxpayer of a district can not dictate for what purpose 
the school building can be used. The school directors are the 
legal custodians of the school property. 

30. School boards, in districts of the first class, have entire 
control of the examination and licensing of applicants to teach in 
their districts. They also have a legal right to renew certificates 
without examination. 

31. Two members of a school board have a right to dismiss 
a teacher, providing their action is taken at a regular or special 
meeting, of which all members of the board have notice. But a 
teacher having a contract with the board can not be dismissed 
without good cause for such action being shown. (Section 60, 
School Law, last clause.) 

32. A board of school directors can not legally change the 
site for a school building, which has been selected by a legal vote 
of the electors of such district. 

33. A school board can not legally loan the money of the 
district. 

34. If a school board purchases books to be used by the 
pupils of the district, such books are for the use of pupils attend- 



81 



ing school within such district, and for no other. If residents of 
the district see fit to send their children into adjoining districts, 
they xan not compel the district in which they reside to furnish 
the text books for their children. 

35. Vacancies that may occur in a district of the second 
or third class, through failure to qualify, or through absence 
from the district, death, resignation, removal or otherwise, are 
to be filled by appointment of the county superintendent only 
until the ensuing regular election, at which time the vacancies 
shall be filled for the unexpired terms, not for regular full terms. 

36. If one member of a school board refuses to sign an 
order, there is no way of compelling him to do so except through 
regular, legal procedure. 

37. The mayor of a town may also legally hold the office of 
school director, inasmuch as the duties of mayor and school 
director do not conflict. 

38. The clause, "Absence from the district of any school 
officer, when prolonged beyond thirty days, may be held to 
work a vacancy in said office," is construed to mean being out 
of the district for more than thirty days. 

39. The county superintendent may recognize a vacancy in 
the office of school director, if said director's absence from the 
district is prolonged beyond thirty days. 

40. A school director has no right to cause his district to 
be in any way indebted to him unless such director happens to be 
secretary of the district, in which case he makes out a warrant 
to himself, and that warrant is signed by the treasurer. (An 
act to prevent frauds in the letting of public contracts.) 

41. If an election of school directors is not held, the old 
board does not hold over. The law provides that within ten 
da3^s after election, notice should be posted of another election. 

42. A school director appointed by the county superin- 
tendent to fill a vacancy, holds office until the ensuing regular 
election. 

43. Failure of a school director to file oath within the 
time required by law does not create a vacancy in the otfice; 
Provided, Said oath has been taken before the proper officer 
within the required time. 



32 



■ 44. The board of directors of a school district has power to 
employ or discharge teachers, and the people of the district 
have nothing whatever to do with this matter. 

45. Every school board has pow^er to suspend or expel 
pupils from school who refuse to obey the rules thereof. 

46. The school board of a district has the right to forbid 
the reading of the Bible in the schools of the district, under the 
provisions of section 51, School Law, 1887, which provides that 
the school board shall have power to fix the course of study, 
the exercises and the text books to be used in the schools of 

the district. 

I 

47. It is the duty of the board of directors to see that 
school children are vaccinated when required to. do so by the 
local board of health. 

48. The length of residence required in Colorado to con- 
stitute eligibility to the office of school director is six months. 

49. The entire management of the school house is in the 
hands of the board of directors. 

50. If the actions of the board do not meet the approval of 
the electors, the latter may have redress only through the courts. 
(In certain cases may appeal to county superintendent and 
State Board of Education.) 

51. More than one director may be elected from the same 
family. 

52. The board of directors has the right to use the special 
fund of the district to pay for the transportation of pupils to and 
from school. 

53. It is not a part of the duty of the board of directors to 
decide as to the grade in which a pupil belongs. 

54. The offices of secretary, and of treasurer of first class 
districts are distinct and should be filled by two different persons. 

55. Directors of third class districts have no authority to 
sell property of the district unless instructed to do so by the 
electors. A sale without such direction is illegal. 

56. No member of the board of directors, except the secre- 
tary, may lawfully become a creditor of the district. 



33 



57. It is illegal for two members of tlie board of directors 
to transact business connected with the district without con- 
sulting the third member. 

' 58. The directors have no right to use, or permit the use 
of, fuel paid for from school funds for other than school 
purposes. 

59. The directors of third class districts have no authority 
either to build a new school house or an addition to an old one 
unless directed to do so by a vote of the electors. 

60. The directors have full authority to decide how many 
schools shall be conducted in their respective districts and where 
such schools shall be held. 

61. Under the Constitution and laws of this state the board 
of directors of any district have power to establish reasonable 
rules and regulations for the government of the schools under 
their charge, for controlling the conduct of teachers and pupils, 
not only while in the school room, but while going to and 
from the school, and such reasonable rules and regulations may 
be enforced by suspension, expulsion or corporal punishment, as 
the board of directors may determine.. 

In the absence of any rules and regulations prescribed 
for the government of the schools by the board of directors, it is 
within the power of the teacher to make such reasonable rules 
and regulations, and to enforce them, in the same manner, sub- 
ject always to the supervision of the board of directors. 

62. The courts alone have the power to remove a school 
officer who fails to do his or her duty. 

63. A school board has the right to fix the compensation 
to be allowed the secretary for the time necessarily spent in 
the service of the district, as required by law or as directed by 
the board, and in section 53 of the School Law it is stated that no 
orders shall be drawn upon the county treasurer (by the district 
board) except in favor of parties to whom the district has become 
lawfully indebted. It is the province of the board to decide the 
proper compensation for the secretary's duties, providing always 
that the board's provision for such compensation is just and rea- 
sonable and in compliance with the law. 

64. Members of a school board elected in a new district only 
hold office until the ensuing general election of the May fol- 
lowing. 



34 



65. The absence of a school director from his district for a 
period of thirty days gives the county superintendent a right to 
appoint some one else in his place. It is not compulsory that 
the county superintendent appoint some one in the place of the 
absent member, but he should do so if, in his judgment, the 
interests of the district are suffering from such absence, or if the 
electors demand such appointment. 

66. When new school districts are formed out of an old 
district, that portion of the old district that retains the original 
number should be considered the old district, and any member 
of the school board residing in that part of the old district that 
continues to exist as the old district, should fill out his full term 
for which he was originally elected. 

67. It is not possible to elect a board for the full term of 
three years at any other than the annual meeting in May, at 
which time all school districts organized since 1887 should at 
the coming election of May, 1901, elect a seci-etary for three 
years, a treasurer for two years and a president for one year. 
If a full board is to be elected, or if only one of those offices is 
to be filled on account of the regular term's having expired, it 
would be the secretary who would be elected for the full term 
of three years, the treasurer, if regularly elected, having still 
two years of his term to serve and the president having still one 
year of his term to serve at the time of the annual May election. 
{See "Directors," section 70.) 

68. A school board has the full power to employ or dis- 
charge teachers and to decide what term of school shall be held 
in a district. 

69. Every member of a school board has an equal voice in 
employing teachers; that is, the vote of the treasurer counts for 
just as much as that of either the president or secretary, on all 
matters pertaining to the affairs of the school district. The 
decision of a majority, however, rules in this as in all other 
matters, but if the treasurer and secretary vote to engage a 
certain teacher, the teacher could be engaged even though the 
president might not acquiesce, and, necessarily, if the president 
and secretary voted in opposition to the vote of the treasurer, 
their decision would stand. 

70. School districts organized since April 4, 1887, would 
this year (1901) elect one secretary for three years, or in case of 
vacancy would elect one treasurer for two years, or in case of 
vacancy would elect one president for one year. 

Districts organized between February 27, 1883, and April 4, 
1887, would elect this year (1901) one president for three years, 



35 



or in case of vacancy one secretary for two years, or in case 
of vacancy one treasurer for one year. 

Districts organized prior to February 27, 1883, would elect 
this year (1901) one treasurer for three years, or in case of 
vacancy one president for two years, or in case of vacancy one 
secretary for one year. 

71. As the statutes give the school board the sole right to 
employ or discharge teachers and to fix and order paid their 
wages, the fact that the electors had expressed themselves by 
vote concerning the matter would not in any way affect the con- 
tract made with the teacher by the board, if said contract was 
made at a regularly called meeting, legally held, of which all 
the members of the board had due notice. (See section 51, page 
43, School i^aw.) 

72. The laws of Colorado do not in any way prohibit a 
saloon-keeper from holding office as a school director, if he has 
been elected to that office in a legal manner. 

73. The State Superintendent has no power to remove mem- 
bers of district boards. The only manner in which a school 
director can be removed is by action in the courts upon suit 
brought by electors of the district, and in such a case absolute 
violation of the law in connection with his duties as school 
director must be proven to accomplish the removal. 

74. If a director is absent from a district for thirty days, 
no matter whether he still retains his residence in the district 
'and expects to return to the district, the county superintendent 
should appoint a person to fill his place, if he considers the edu- 
cational interests of the district suffer through the absence of 
the original director. 

75. A member of the school board may be compelled by 
legal process to perform the duties of his office as specified in the 
law. Any elector of the district, member of the school board 
or the county superintendent can institute the proceedings. 

76. A member of a school board may be removed for mal- 
feasance in office, by action taken in the courts. 

77. If a secretary of a school board falsify his records, he 
would violate his bond. 

78. No member of a district board has any right whatever 
to purchase coal or other school supplies, without being ordered 
to do so by the other two members. 



3G 

79. When a school director of a third class district remove? 
his family from the district, going with them himself, but retain- 
ing his postoffice address in the district and coming into said 
district once in thirty days only, he ceases to be a bona fide 
resident of such district and his office becomes vacant. 

80. The fact that two members of a school board are of one 
family, and the further fact that another member became a 
resident of the district for the sole purpose of becoming an 
officer, so long as he is an actual resident, would not affect the 
regularity of the organization of the board. 

81. There is nothing in the laws of Colorado to prevent a 
person who fills the office of district judge from also filling that 
of school director, the two offices belonging to an entirely different 
class. 

82. The management of the property of the school district 
is given to the school board, it being expected, however, that 
the board shall take care of the property in a manner satisfactory 
to the electors of the district and that the use of the school 
house is not permitted for improper purposes. If the property 
of the district has been abused, any elector of the district could 
take legal steps to put a stop to any further abuse in the same 
line. 

83. The right to levy a 1-10 of a mill tax for library pur- 
poses in school districts rests entirely with the school board. A 
vote of the electors of the district is not necessary for this 
purpose. 

84. It is not lawful for a vmember of a school board located 
in one state to take his oath of office, or qualify for the office, in 
another state from that in which the district is located. 

85. It is lawful for a president of one school district to ad- 
minister the oath of office to the board of another school district. 

86. If the electors of a school district have voted the specifi- 
cations in regard to building a school house, the site being defi- 
nitely selected, the board of directors could not legally change 
these specifications, and it would be necessary to call another 
meeting of the electors if thought desirable to make a change. 

87. One member of a school board can not legally employ 
a teacher, even although a meeting has been called for the 
purpose and notice of it sent to other members of the board. 



37 



If the failure to attend the meeting arises from a deliberate inten- 
tion to fail to do the duty required of members of a school board, 
the member who has previously called the meeting can, by legal 
process, compel the attendance of the members. 

88. There is no section of the school law which requires 
any one elected president of the school board in a first class dis- 
trict to take an oath of office as president of the board if he has, 
upon his election by the people as a member of the board, taken 
the required oath. 

89. The statutes give boards of directors of districts of the 
first class the entire authority to declare and fill vacancies, and 
with that authority, by necessary implication, goes the author- 
ity to declare vacancies, excluding the idea that a county superin- 
tendent may have that authority. The county superintendent 
has no right whatever to hold that a vacancy exists in the board 
of a district of the first class until such a vacancy has been 
declared by the board itself, or by the courts. 

90. It is the duty of the treasurer of a school board to coun- 
tersign all warrants drawn by the president and secretary on the 
county treasurer in favor of parties to whom the district has 
become lawfully indebted. 



DISCIPLINE. 

1. The board of directors has exclusive jurisdiction in deter- 
mining the methods of discipline. 

2. The board of directors has exclusive jurisdiction in de- 
termining the method of discipline to be employed in the schools 
under its control. 



ELECTIONS. 

1. More than one question can be voted upon at a special 
meeting of the electors of a school district; Provided, Each 
question is separately stated in the notice of such meeting. 

2. The regular annual election for members of school boards 
is held on the first Monday in May throughout the state. Any 
business pertaining to schools and school interests may be trans- 
acted at that time. Notice, however, must be given of the "timp 
and place" of such business. (Section 44, School Law.) 



38 

3. Sections 44. 45 and 46 of the School Law prescribe the 
manner of conducting the election — including the "previous 
notice" — (not the same in all districts) "the time during which 
the ballot box or boxes shall be kept open," who "shall be entitled 
to vote," "counting the votes." "qualifying," "administering the 
oath of office," etc. 

4. Immediately after the election of one or more directors 
according to law, the secretary shall transmit to the county super- 
intendent a statement, giving the name and postoffice address of 
the president, secretary and treasurer, respectively, of the new 
board. (Section 54, School Law.) 

5. School boards of the first class shall, at the first meeting 
after their election, elect a president who shall be a member of 
the board, a secretary who may or may not be a member of the 
board, and a treasurer who shall not be a member of the board, 
and who shall hold office for one year and until their successors 
are elected and qualified. (Section 41, School Law.) 

6. In districts of the first and second classes the boards, 
after organization, shall exercise all the power given the electors 
of districts of the third class, as specified in section 63, School 
Law. 

7. District boards of the first class shall also have power 
to fill any vacancy which may occur in the board, until the regu- 
lar election, at which time the vacancy shall be filled for the 
unexpired term. (Section 48, School Law.) 

8. Every person, male or female, over the age of twenty-one 
(21) years, who shall be a citizen of the United States, or, not 
being a citizen, shall have declared his intention to become such 
citizen not less than four (4) months immediately preceding 
the election at which he offers to vote, and shall have resided in 
this state six (6) months immediately preceding the election at 
which he offers to vote, in the county ninety (90) days, and in 
the district thirty (30) days, shall be a legal voter at an annual 
school election. 

9. When directors for a new district (not of the first class) 
are elected they hold office only until the ensuing regular election 
(section 28, School Law), when a full board shall be elected, as 
indicated for all districts of the first and second class in section 41, 
viz.: One (1) president for three (3) years, one (1) secretary for 
two (2) years and one (1) treasurer for one (1) year; and 
annually thereafter there shall be elected for three (3) years a 
person to fill the vacancy occurring. (See "Directors," section 70.) 



39 



10. The board of directors determines the place or places 
where an election shall be held, and the secretary gives notice in 
accordance with such direction of the board. 

11. . At a regular meeting of a school board, two members of 
said board, constituting a quorum, can legally call a special 
meeting. 

12. The secretary of a district has not a legal right to call 
a meeting of the voters in the district. 

13. As to whether or not the president of the board has 
power to call a special meeting when he desires so to do, depends 
altogether upon the by-laws governing the board. 

14. The notice calling a special meeting is legal, even though 
the date has been omitted; Provided, That said notice has been 
posted the required number of days, and the special meeting was 
called at a regular meeting of the school board at which a quorum 
was present. 

1-5. A meeting of the board of directors of a district must 
be held for the purpose of calling a special meeting of the voters 
of said district. 

16. At a school election, in case of a tie vote, it is the intent 
of the school law to provide that notice of another election shall 
be posted within ten days. 

17. The result of a school election must stand as announced 
by the judges until set aside through legal proceedings contesting 
the election. An election contest is a question for the courts to 
decide. 

18. A school election at which the polls are not kept open 
three hours and the voting done by ballot is illegal. 

19. A special meeting of the voters of a district is legal only 
when twenty days' notice of such meeting is given. 

20. A regular annual school election when the ballot box is 
open less than three hours is invalid. 

21. A failure to give the required notice by the secretary 
would not necessarily render the regular annual school election 
void. 



40 



22. .Where the notice of a regular annual school election 
given by the secretary names an unusual hour for the holding 
of such election — say from 6 to 9 o'clock a. m.— the fact that a 
majority of the residents object to the time specified in the notice 
and undertake to give notice for an election at a more con- 
venient hour — say from 9 o'clock a. m. to 12 o'clock m. — is con- 
clusive evidence that such majority had notice of the time and 
place fixed by the secretary in his notice, and unless it would he 
practically impossible to hold an election at the hour named in 
the secretary's notice, an election held pursuant thereto would 
not be invalid because of being held at an unusual hour. 

23. The question of uniting two contiguous school districts 
may be voted on at the annual school meeting in May, providing 
the necessary notice for a special meeting be given — that is, no- 
tices stating the purpose of the meeting must be posted at least 
twenty days before the time the meeting is to be held. The no- 
tices for the annual meeting will be sufficient notice if in addi- 
tion to the notice of the election, a statement of the special busi- 
ness to be transacted is made, and at least three notices are 
posted in the district twenty days previous to the date of the 
meeting, instead of the six days' notice, which is all the time 
that is required for the annual meeting. 

24. If a school district was organized after the annual school 
election in May, 1900, the officers elected at the time of the or- 
ganization would only hold office until the annual election of 
May, 1901. In May, 1901, members of school boards should be 
elected as follows: President for one year; treasurer for two 
years, and secretary for three years. 

This is in accordance with an opinion given by the Attorney 
General, in 1897, and applies to all school districts organized 
since 1887. (See "Directors," section 70.) 

25. If a person has paid any one year's school tax during 
the year immediately preceding the election regarding the ques- 
tion of refunding bonds, and is otherwise qualified, he is entitled 
to vote at such election. 

26. In third class districts — that is, districts having under 
350 school population — the provision of section 45, requiring eight 
days' notice of candidacy, is not applied. It is only in districts 
of the first and second class — districts having over 350 school 
population — that candidates are required to file written notice of 
such intention with the secretary of the school district at least 
eight days prior to the day of holding the annual election. 



41 



27. The fact that there were but two judges at a school 
election would not invalidate the election, if legally conducted 
in other respects. 

28. The building of a school house as permitted by vote of 
the electors at the last meeting would be lawful if the meeting 
was a legal meeting, even though the vote was taken in recon- 
sideration of the question as previously passed upon.- 

29. An election is not illegal simply because some persons 
were not permitted to vote, even if it is shown that such persons 
had a right to vote. If the ballots excluded would change the 
result of the election there would be strong grounds for contest- 
ing the election. The law does not provide for the imposing 
of fines upon members of school boards who have not allowed 
persons to swear in their votes. 

30. All legal voters who are residents in a joint district may 
vote upon any questions pertaining to school matters of said dis- 
trict, save in the matter of bonds, which requires a voter to be 
also a taxpayer. 

31. "When a meeting follows after the ballot box has been 
closed at an annual meeting, it may be regarded as simply a con- 
tinuation of the first meeting. 

32. Under section 63 of the School Law, the secretary may 
preside over the meeting of electors if the president absents him- 
self or refuses to do his duty. 

33. It is not possible for school districts of the third class 
to have more than one voting place. 

34. The general law in regard to the election of school di- 
rectors applies to a joint district just as to any other. 

35. There is no legal objection against using the Australian 
ballot system for the organization of a school district, or for 
any other school matters. 

36. The chairman selected at the organization of a new school 
district has a perfect right to administer the oath to any one 
who may have his vote challenged. 

37. There is no difference in qualifications for voters at the 
organization of a new school district and the qualifications for 
voters at any other election. 



42 



38. A person residing outside of the boundaries of a pro- 
posed new district has no legal right to challenge a voter resid- 
ing within the same. 

39. In a first class district, when a vacancy occurs after the 
advertisement of the regular election, four weeks preceding such 
election, a person who may desire to be a candidate for the office 
of school director, by filing a written notice of such intention 
with the secretary of the school district in which he resides at 
least eight days prior to the day of the holding of the annual 
election, will become a legal candidate, providing the other de- 
tails specified in sections 44 and 45, pages 38 and 39 of the School 
Law be observed. If the resignation occurs after the eight days 
specified in section 45, the board would name the director who 
would hold over until the regular election in 1903. 

40. At a special meeting held for the purpose of voting upon 
the question of issuing bonds, the election judges have the right 
to require every one to swear in his vote, whether the vote is 
challenged or not, unless the voter presents his tax receipt. 

If real estate is in the names of both man and wife, even 
though the tax receipt shows but one name, both are legal voters. 

If a man has given his wife part of his real estate, but no 
deed has yet been given to the wife, even though she has paid 
taxes upon the same, she has not the right to vote. 

A person who has been assessed for taxes, but has as yet paid 
no taxes in the district, according to section 90, page 71 of the 
School Law, would not be entitled to vote. 

If property is in the wife's name, but the tax receipt is in 
the husband's name, the wife would have the right to vote and 
not the husband. 

41. In case a school district has not held its annual meet- 
ing to elect officers and vote a tax, it becomes the duty of the 
county superintendent to appoint to the vacant positions, and the 
duty of the county commissioners to levy the tax for the district. 
This is in accordance with the latter part of section 64, page 55 
of the School Law. 

42. The president of a school board can administer the oath 
to a challenged voter, the fact that the president requires the oath 
being equivalent to a challenge. 

43. In districts of the second class in case there is no regu- 
lar nominee, an election can not be legally held, and a special 
election should be called by the board within ten days, or in 
case of the failure of the board to have properly called such a 
special election, the county superintendent should appoint. 



43 



ELECTORS. 

1. The directors of a third class district can not legally pur- 
chase a school site without a favorable vote of the electors. 

2. If the electors of a district are dissatisfied with the action 
of the board, they have the privilege of enjoining the board from 
fulfilling said action. 

3. Actual residence determines one's voting place. The fact 
that a person has "taken up" a homestead, but is not at the time 
he offers to vote located upon his homestead, does not deprive 
him of the right to vote in the place of his actual residence. 

4. The fact that an elector is not a taxpayer does not dis- 
qualify him from holding office, either by election or by appoint- 
ment. 

5. It is not necessary that one should be a taxpayer to vote 
on the question as to where a school is to be held or a school 
building is to be erected. Any legally qualified elector has a 
right to vote on all questions save those relating to bonded 
indebtedness. 

6. The electors of a school district, having at their annual 
meeting voted to repeal their previous action concerning the use 
of free text books in the district, that action must stand. 

7. A vote of the district should be taken to authorize a school 
board to put down an artesian well on the school grounds. 



EXAMINATIONS. 

1. The quarterly examination can not be taken in parts. 
If an applicant is successful in some of the subjects and unsuc- 
cessful in others, the entire examination must be taken at some 
future time. 

2. A teacher is not entitled to receive pay for the time lost 
while attending a teachers' examination. 

3. The State Superintendent has no authority to excuse a 
person from taking an examination. 

4. Examinations for teachers' certificates can not be taken 
at any time except at those times prescribed by law for public 
examination. 



u 



5. It is not allowable for an applicant at a regular county 
teachers' examination to submit two or more sets of papers for 
grading in different counties. 

6. The questions issued for the county teachers' examina- 
tions are divided into sections, one of which, by direction of the 
State Superintendent, shall be presented at the beginning of each 
of four different sessions. The State Superintendent is authorized 
to prescribe rules for the examination. In order that all appli- 
cants may have an equal opportunity, and to avoid the possibility 
of any being informed in advance of the nature of the examina- 
tion, the county superintendent is instructed to break the seal 
of each section at the opening of the session for which it is 
prescribed, and in the presence of all applicants. Therefore, those 
presenting themselves for examination will write each portion 
at its designated time, beginning on Friday and continuing 
through Saturday. 

7. The law does not permit an applicant at a teachers' exam- 
ination to take a part of the subjects required at the examination, 
with a view to raising the marks obtained at a previous examina- 
tion. The whole examination must be taken or it is invalid. 

8. The fees paid to a county superintendent by an applicant 
whose papers are to be forwarded to another county may be sent 
direct to the State Superintendent and not forwarded to the 
other county superintendent. The county superintendent of any 
county should send the money to the State Superintendent for 
all applicants taking the examination under his supervision. 

9. When an examination is taken the fee should be paid 
to the county superintendent where the examination is held before 
the applicant is permitted to present any papers. 

10. The State Superintendent has no right to provide for 
any examination other than those specified by the law. 

11. All first class districts have a right to make their rules 
and regulations governing examinations for certificates and for 
any special line of work. 

12. The laws of Colorado do not permit teachers' examina- 
tions for certificates in this state to be conducted anywhere but 
in the various counties of the state. 

13. A county superintendent has no right whatever to give 
a personal or private examination to an applicant, even though 
such applicant may be requested to take a school, and possesses 



45 



no certificate or an expired certificate. A county superintendent 
has no right whatever to issue a temporary certificate. 

14. There is no specific law governing the eighth grade 
county examinations. The matter is entirely under the man- 
agement of the county superintendent. 

15. According to the provisions of section 16, page 21, of 
the School Law, edition of 1901, the school board of a first class 
district has the right to conduct an examination in such manner 
and at such time as the board may determine; therefore it may 
decide to hold the examination on consecutive days, or on irreg- 
ular days, as desired. The school board has the right to prepare 
its own questions used in this examination, or to authorize some 
person to prepare them. 



FUNDS. 



1. The school funds can not be legally used for defraying 
the expenses of a singing school. 

2. The county treasurer is the only legal custodian of the 
school funds. The district treasurer has no legal right to 
hold in his possession any of the general, special or bond fund, 
nor have the directors of a school district any legal right to 
issue orders on the county treasurer, except in favor of those 
parties to whom the district is legally indebted. In the payment 
of school bonds, the district treasurer has control of the funds 
only during the times of advertising and subsequent payment. 

3. All money which shall become forfeited by a school dis- 
trict shall be put into the general fund of the county and re-appor- 
tioned as other money. (Section 26, School Law.) 

4. All moneys remaining to the credit of any district on 
June 30 should remain to the credit of such district and can 
not be turned into the general school fund of the county for 
re-apportionment. 

5. More than any other person, the county superintendent 
is the one to look after that portion of the school fund arising 
from fines, forfeitures, etc. (Section 69, School Law.) He 
should examine the books of the county treasurers, records and 
fee books of justices of the peace and clerks of courts, to ascer- 
tain whether or not the fines have been collected, and if collected, 
whether they have been placed to the credit of the proper fund 
and paid over. 



46 



6. The county treasurer is responsible if moneys are turned 
into the wrong fund by him. It is his duty to place money col- 
lected from fines, forfeitures, etc., to the fund designated by law. 

7. The district attorney or county attorney should bring 
suit; this on foi-feited recognizance, etc., etc. 

8. As a rule, the money for schools from these sources 
(derived from fines, penalties, etc.) should be turned by the 
county treasurer into the general school fund of the county 
rather than into that of a particular district; although fines 
assessed by justices of the peace may, in some cases, go to the 
credit of the school district in which the action occurred. Gener- 
ally speaking, the proceeds of all fines or forfeitures should be 
placed by the countj^ treasurer to the credit of the general 
school fund of the county, unless otherwise expressly provided 
by statutes. 

9. County treasurers should place the money arising from 
fines collected, and belonging to the school fund, in the general 
fund. 

10. There are only two apportionments of the school fund 
by the State Superintendent during the year, one in January 
and one in July. Other apportionments, if any, are made by 
the county superintendents. (See sections 11 and 19, respect- 
ively, of the School Law.) 

11. "The general fund may be used only for teachers' 
wages, and necessary current expenses, until the school has been 
conducted for a period of ten months in one year." 

12. If a school district has failed to hold school for one 
year, or has failed to keep up its organization, the funds be- 
longing to such district should be turned into the county general 
fund, unless its territory is attached to another district, in which 
case the money should be transferred to the district to which 
it is attached. 

13. The board of directors of a district can not legally 
transfer the funds of that district to another district. 

14. A school district can not lawfully transfer its apportion- 
ment of the general fund or any portion thereof to another 
district. 

15. If the term of a public school be lengthened by private 
subscription, the time of such lengthening may be counted 
toward providing for the length of term required by law. 



47 
r ■ 

16. The amount of the general fund apportioned to a pupil 
attending a union (not county) high school should be credited 
to such high school and not to the district in which he resides. 

17. A newly organized district is not entitled to a share of 
the general fund (state and county) until a school has actually 
begun in such district. 

18. The general fund may be used for building, furnishing 
or erecting additions to school houses, or for improving the 
school house, sites or lots, only after the expense of maintaining 
the school for a period of ten months in one year shall actually 
have been paid. 

19. Insurance premiums and attorney's fees are not ex- 
penses "incidental to the suii^ort of a public school," and there- 
fore must not be paid from the general fund. 

20. All fines, penalties and forfeitures belong to the school 
fund (section 3064, C. S.) unless the act fixing the same other- 
wise expressly provides. 

21. There is no difference in a general school fund and a. 
fund derived by a special tax upon the district for general school 
purposes, only in the manner of their creation. They may both: 
be used for the same purpose. 

22. Section 4034, Mills' Annotated Statutes, provides that 
the clear proceeds of all fines collected within the several counties 
of the state for breach of the penal laws shall be paid over in 
cash by the person collecting the same within twenty (20) days 
after its collection to the county treasurer, to be by him credited 
to the general county school fund. 

23. Unless otherwise specifically provided for by law, the 
fines collected for breach of the game and fish laws should be 
placed to the credit of the general county school fund. 

24. There is no limit to the amount that can be registered 
in the general fund during the year, providing the limitations in 
section 71, page 60, of the School Law are observed. A previous 
opinion given by this office states that "The general fund may be 
used only for teachers' wages and necessary current expenses 
until the school has been conducted for a period of ten months in 
one year." 



48 



25. A school board can not legally contract for the work 
of instructing high school pupils to be done by a private party 
or corporation and pay for it out of public school funds. 

26. Funds of first class districts must remain in the hands 
of the county treasurer and be drawn upon through warrants 
made out by the district board, as in districts of the third class. 
The law makes no provision for the handling of the funds of 
school districts in the state of Colorado in any other way than 
that mentioned. 

27. Where a school district newly organized commences 
school in good faith in a certain building, and supposes the build- 
ing where the school is held to be within the boundaries of the 
district, it would be entitled to draw its share of the public funds, 
notwithstanding the fact that the building is discovered, after 
the school has commenced, to be outside of the limits of the 
district. 

28. No new district is entitled to any portion of the public 
school fund until a school is actually commenced therein. This, 
however, would not necessarily exclude a district whose school 
might be found to be located outside of the district line through 
accident, if the school had been commenced in good faith. 

29. A director of a school board has no right whatever to 
draw money from the funds of a school district to pay for his 
child's board while attending school in another district. Any 
member so misappropriating the funds of the district can be 
compelled by process of law to refund the money. 

30. It is the duty of the county superintendent to prevent 
any illegal expenditure of funds, and any citizen of the district 
may at any time after any illegal expenditure bring suit to re- 
cover the funds illegally expended. 

31. When funds are used in violation of the law, any elector 
of the district or any county superintendent has the right at 
any time after said funds have been so used, to bring suit to 
recover the same, the members of the school board that signed 
the illegal warrants being liable for the amount involved. 

32. The school board has no right to use the school funds in 
the employment of attorneys or other expenses to antagonize the 
action of a board of health. 

33. It is legal to draw on the general fund to pay the janitor 
who is employed in a school. 



49 



HIGH SCHOOLS. 

1. All pupils in the county under the age of twenty-one 
years, who are educationally qualified, are classed as high school 
pupils, and draw state and county money, whether they attend 
school or not. 

2. A pupil can not be listed as a high school pupil and also 
as a pupil of the district in which he resides and draw general 
school money for both common and high schools. 

3. The directors of a third class district have no authority 
to establish a high school, unless such district embraces within 
itself a county seat. 

4. The County High School Law is entirely independent of 
the Union High School Law. The latter is in no way affected 
by the former. • 

5. Districts of any of the classes may establish a union high 
school. The construction of section 52 is, that the boards in first 
and second class districts may establish separate high schools. A 
union high school is the result of co-operation by tvfo or more 
districts, while a separate high school is established within and 
by one district. Hence, there is no conflict between these two 
sections. 

6. The circumstance that union high schools have been estab- 
lished does not increase the powers of boards of the third class 
districts in the matter of erecting high school buildings, but their 
powers of erecting such buildings must be derived from the 
electors, as in other cases. 

7. Having considered the relation in which the act of 1899 
stands to the School Act, it appears evident that the general 
assembly intended to create a new and distinct school district, 
which should exercise all the powers of "school districts" and be 
classed as a school district, and in the exercise of those powers 
given to school districts in the state. It is, therefore, concluded 
that it has the right to issue bonds in accordance with the 
provisions of section 90 of the School Act. 

8. Two or more school districts of any county may combine 
for the purpose of forming a high school, in accordance with 
the Union High School Law, still on the statutes. Such a high 
school is supported by its quota of the general state and county 
funds, any deficit to be made up from the several district funds 



50 

in proportion to the number of pupils from each district who 
attended such high school during the preceding year. 

9. The question of organizing a county high school may be 
voted upon at a general election; Provided, A petition signed 
by fifty taxpayers of the county asks that the question be thus 
submitted, and has been previously presented to the county com- 
missioners not later than their October meeting. 

10. A part of the school district which includes the county 
seat has the right to separately establish and maintain a high 
school, and in this case the high school committee shall be the 
board of the school district, or such three members as they may 
select. 

11. As no provision has been made by the County High 
School Law to divert any portion of the general funds from the 
different school districts to the benefit of the high school, it 
must be assumed that the legislature intended the tax provided 
for in the act to meet the expense of supporting the county high 
school. 

12. There is no law existing upon our statutes that al- 
lows pupils to attend a high school in a county regardless of 
the district where he lives without paying tuition, unless the 
county has been organized in a county high school district, or 
unless the district where the pupils reside forms part of a union 
high school district. 

13. The law of 1900, authorizing the establishment of 
county high schools, by no means repeals the law providing for 
the establishment of a union high school by two or more con- 
tiguous districts. 

14. Two or more contiguous districts in a county can or- 
ganize a union high school if so desired. In so doing, however, 
they would not be exempt from the tax for county high school 
established at the county seat. They would still be liable to 
their portion of the tax levied for the support of the county high 
school. 

15. A union high school, under section 4001, M. A. S., and 
sections 5 and 7 of the act of the general assembly, approved 
April 8, 1899, is entitled to both its quota from the general 
school fund and to the county tax for the support of high 
schools. 



51 



16. When a meeting of the school directors of all the dis- 
tricts of the county is called after the proposition to establish 
a county high school has been carried in a county, it is not 
necessary for the entire board of directors from each district 
to appear, providing the member or members of the board ap- 
pearing present credentials showing that they have been given 
authority by the absent member or members of the board to 
cast the votes of the absentees. 

If no member of the board appears no vote could be cast 
for that district, or, if one or two members appear without the 
credentials from the absent member or members, the member 
or members present would only be entitled to cast his or their 
own votes. 

17. In the case of a county high school, the high school 
committee acts upon the question as to the cost, time and place 
of building. The county may be bonded for the expenses of 
building just as any school district may be bonded. 

18. It is the duty of the high school committee to certify 
to the board of county commissioners the amount of tax to be 
levied for county high school purposes, and it then becomes the 
duty of the county commissioners to levy the tax. If the high 
school committee fails to perform its duty it may be required 
to do so by mandamus. 

19. The tenure of office as a member of the county high 
school board expires with the expiration of the term of oflace 
of the member of the board in the district where he has been 
elected to office. The fact of his re-election in the district 
would not necessarily mean the continuance of his office as a 
member of the high school board. His continuing to hold the 
position would be entirely dependent upon the fact of his being 
again selected to the joint school board after his re-election as 
a member of the district board. 

20. Persons attending the county high school will not 
draw state and county funds from the quarterly and semi- 
annual apportionments as a separate amount for the benefit 
of the high school. Their names are to be included in the va- 
rious districts where they reside, said districts drawing the 
per capita amount for their names. The high school is expected 
to be entirely supported by direct taxes. 



F.O 



HOLIDAYS. 

1. The legal holidays recognized by the laws of Colorada- 
are: New Year's; Washington's Birthday; Arbor Day, third 
Friday in April; Decoration Day; Fourth of July; Labor Day, 
the first Monday in September; Thanksgiving, and Christmas. 

2. In the observance of legal holidays, the banks are a 
good guide. Washington's Birthday, last, having fallen upon 
Sunday, the banks observed Monday. 

3. The twenty days of a school month include such holi- 
days as may occur within that school month. 

4. The time between Christmas and New Year's may be 
given to the teacher if the school board chooses to do so, but 
it does not legally belong to him. 

5. A school board has the right to determine the time and 
duration of vacations. 

6. Labor Day, being a legal holiday in Colorado, one is 
not required to teach a day during the month of September to 
make up for the school day lost. 

7. A teacher is not obliged to make up legal holidays 
which occur during the term of school for which she is em- 
ployed, and she receives her salary for such days just as if 
school had been held. 

8. Arbor Day is a legal holiday and expressly stated as 
such by the laws of this state. However, it is not a holiday in 
the sense that the schools may be closed upon that day, since 
certain observances are required on the part of the schools. 



KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS. 

1. Under the act of 1893 a Colorado school board may 
lawfully employ a kindergarten teacher having a diploma from 
some reputable kindergarten teachers' institute outside of the 
state of Colorado, and it is not necessary that such teacher shall 
first pass an examination directed by the kindergarten depart- 
ment of the State Normal school. 



53 



LIBRARY. 

1. The county high school district has the right to levy a 
one-tenth mill tax for library purposes, just as any other district 
has. 

2. The board of any district may order a levy of not to ex- 
ceed one-tenth of one mill for library purposes. 

3. Funds raised in accordance with the provisions of section 
67, page 57, of the School Law must be used solely for the pur- 
chase of books for a library which shall be entirely under the 
control of the school board; and while the section states that the 
library shall be open to the public, it is my opinion that the 
law does not contemplate the location of the library anywhere 
but in connection with the school. 



LOANS. 



1. The Constitution of Colorado prohibits the creation of a 
debt by loan for building purposes in any other way than by a 
vote of the electors. While a certificate of indebtedness can 
not be considered a loan, strictly speaking, the courts would prob- 
ably construe it to be prohibited by the same constitutional pro- 
vision when issued to cover a debt incurred by building. 



MEETSNGS. 

1. It is illegal to employ a school teacher save at a regu- 
larly called meeting, of which due notice was given to every 
member of the board. It is also illegal to transact any business 
save at such duly called meetings. 

2. If the school board chose to revoke its rules concern- 
ing the place where a school meeting must be held, it would have 
a right to do so. 

3. A meeting of a school board can not be properly held un- 
less reasonable notice has been given to all members. 



54 



NORMAL INSTITUTES. 

1. The credits which county superintendents are instructed 
CO give to applicants for certificates by reason of attendance at 
the Normal Institutes should be given to those persons only who 
have attended an institute in Colorado. 

2. It shall be unlawful to pay any one from the institute 
fund for services as conductor or instructor of such institute, 
who does not hold a certificate or qualification for such work, 
issued by the State Board of Education upon the recommendation 
of the State Board of Examiners; Provided, That a member of 
the State Normal School faculty shall be ex officio a conductor 
of Normal Institutes. 

3. If the president of an institute executive committee fails 
to call a meeting of the committee it would be proper for the 
other two members to call a meeting, giving the president noti- 
fication of such meeting; and at such meeting it would be proper 
to transact the necessary business to establish and maintain a 
successful institute. 

4. The law requiring a dollar fee for a teacher upon taking 
the examination, in no way does away with the requirement of 
the attendance fee for attending a Normal Institute. 

5. It is not intended by law that the five per cent, for attend- 
ance at Normal Institute shall be added in any county unless the 
applicant has attended a Normal Institute in this state during 
the whole time it is in session. 

6. In giving a person attending a Normal Institute five per 
cent, upon the average obtained in a teachers' examination, the 
five per cent, to added should be computed upon the general aver- 
age obtained, and not be given as straight five per cent. 



PUNISHMENT. 

1. There is no special enactment concerning corporal pun- 
ishment. Extreme and unreasonable punishment constitutes 
assault and battery, and action may be brought against the 
teacher by the party aggrieved. The court will determine 
whether the punishment is unreasonable. 

2. A school board has no right to interfere with the rea- 
sonable punishment of a pupil by the teacher unless such pun- 



55 



ishment is given contrary to ttie rules of the board. Any teacher 
has a right to make such reasonable rules and regulations for the 
control of her school as may seem necessary for the proper man- 
agement of the school; Provided, They do not conflict with the 
regularly established rules of the school board. 



PUPILS. 



1. All persons between the ages of six and twenty-one are 
entitled to all the privileges of the public schools. 

2. A pupil can be expelled by the board of directors for 
any offense that in their judgment deserves such a penalty. 

3. Children six years of age are entitled to school privi- 
leges, and it is the duty of the board of directors to provide 
adequate accommodations for them. 

4. A resident's objection to the attendance at school of 
a child from another district is of no effect, provided the board 
of directors is willing to permit such attendance. 

5. The power to expel or suspend a pupil from the privi- 
leges of the schools of Colorado is conferred by law solely and 
exclusively on the school board, and no teacher has the right 
to perform that act. 

6. A by-law providing that any pupil infested with small- 
pox, scarlet fever, diphtheria or any other contagious disease, 
should be excluded from the school, would certainly come within 
the powers of the board under the statutes; and as prevention 
is conceded to be better than cure, there can be no reason why 
a by-law providing that a well recognized preventive must be 
resorted to under pain of exclusion from school, would not be 
equally within the powers of the school board. 

7. People who are deprived of school privileges can re- 
quest that the school board provide a school for even a small 
number of children, but there is no way to compel the board 
to do so. 

8. In regard to payment for transportation of pupils to and 
from school, there is no direct provision of the law authorizing 
such action, but it is customary in many districts of the state 
and has never been objected to, and should not be disturbed 
unless objections are raised by the electors of the district. 



56 

9. If the school boai'd has demanded that the pupils of a 
school be vaccinated, its action being authorized or required by 
the county board of health, pupils should comply with the re- 
quirements made. The county board of health is expected to 
act in accordance with the rules and regulations of the State 
Board of Health, and also to see that all necessary precautions 
are taken in the schools of their counties to guard against con- 
tagious diseases. 

10. The law makes no provision whereby a school board 
can pay the board of a pupil in another district. 

11. A school board has the right to make a rule that chil- 
dren who may become six years of age during the school year 
shall enter school only at certain times — say at the beginning 
of the fall, winter or spring term. It is not proper to admit a 
child vv^ho is under six years of age. 

12. A teacher has a right to compel the pupils in the re- 
spective grades to take all the studies prescribed for that grade, 
unless rules of the school board are in existence which would 
excuse a pupil for valid reasons. 

13. It is also the teacher's right to establish any regula- 
tions for the discipline of the school that are not in conflict 
with the already established rules of the school board. A 
teacher in Colorado has also the right to use corporal punish- 
ment when not excessive or cruel. 

14. When a pupil leaves school, taking his books with him, 
it being understood that he has permanently left the school, his 
name should be immediately dropped instead of his being count- 
ed as a member for three days after his departure. 

15. The authority of the board of health is paramount to 
that of a school board, and if the board of health passes a reg- 
ulation requiring vaccination of pupils as a pre-requisite to ad- 
mission to the school, it is the duty of the school board to carry 
into effect such regulation. 



RESIDENCE. 

1. A non-resident of a school district is one whose perma- 
nent dwelling place is not within the boundaries of that district. 

2. The residence of a minor is the residence of his parents 
or guardian. 



3. If a person moves his family into a school district for 
the purpose of availing himself of the advantages afforded by 
that district, and subsequently, during the school year, removes 
from the district, he is not a resident of such district, within 
the meaning of the term as used in the School Law of Colo- 
rado. The following is taken from a decision of the supreme 
court of Wisconsin (N. W. Rep., Vol. 41, page 1,014): "Effort 
has been made to guard against the precipitancy of non-resi- 
dents to points where superior advantages exist, and schools of 
high order are maintained, by holding that such children only 
are entitled to free tuition as are actually residing in the dis- 
trict for other reasons, as a main purpose, than to participate 
in the advantages which the school affords." 

4. Section 2, page 67, of the Colorado School Law exempts 
persons living more than two miles from a school house from 
the provisions of that act. 

5. Considerable difficulty is sometimes experienced in de- 
termining "bona fide" residence. The law defines the residence 
of an unmarried person of school age (that is, of a minor) "to 
be identical with the bona fide residence of the parent or guard- 
ian of such person; Provided, That such parent or guardian be 
a resident of the state." 

6. Where a family resides regularly a part of the year in 
one district and a part of the year in another, the residence 
for school purposes should be the one held IN GOOD FAITH on 
the 10th day of April. 

7. (1) That place shall be considered and held to be the 
residence of a person in which his habitation is fixed, and to 
which, whenever he is absent, he has the intention of returning. 

(2) A person shall not be considered or held to have lost 
his residence who shall leave his home and go into another state 
or territory or county of this state for temporary purposes merely, 
with the intention of returning. 

8. A person may retain his residence in a district, if, at the 
time of leaving the district, it was his intention to return. 

9. The word "residing," as used in section 77 of the 1897 
School Law, has reference to a permanent residence. 

10. If a person is holding down a homestead claim in good 
faith, he must retain his residence in the school district in which 
said homestead is located. 



58 

11. An unmarried person under twenty-one can claim resi- 
dence where the parents reside, whether absent from home at 
school or at work. 

12. Every unmarried person under twenty-one is . entitled 
to draw school money. 

13. A person's residence is his voting place. 

14. In determining the residence for the purpose of taking 
school census, it matters not where the unmarried person of 
school age may be whose parents or guardian live in the state, 
the residence of such person is fixed by the bona fide residence 
of the parent or guardian, and this must be determined by the 
census enumerator. 

15. The fact that a person pays taxes in two counties does 
not give him the right to send children to school in both dis- 
tricts in which the taxes are paid. A man's residence can only 
be in one place, and the place where the home is permanently 
located determines the district where the children have a right 
to attend school. 

16. Residence under the School Law means a person's real 
home, not a temporary abiding place. 

When people move into a town at the beginning of school, 
expecting to return to their permanent home at the close of 
school, they can not claim residence, and the school board has a 
right to charge tuition to children sent to school by such fam- 
ilies. 

17. If persons spend the winter in town, voting in the town 
in the fall and return to their homes in another district less than 
thirty days previous to a school election, they are not entitled 
to vote, since their action in voting in the November election 
is a declaration of their residence in the town, and in removing 
to another district thirty days previous to a school election, even 
though they claim that as their home, they would not have gained 
the right to vote. 

18. In the case of a person who had lived in a district for 
over a year and a half and who, after teaching six weeks in the 
district, went away for a certain time, expecting to return, if 
such a person claimed as his residence the district in which he had 
resided for over a year and a half, he would be entitled to vote 
in the district if possessed of the other legal qualifications. 



59 

19. If the parents or guardian of a child remove from a 
school district, claiming a residence elsewhere, the child is not 
properly a resident of the district from which the parent or 
guardian has moved. 

20. A child who is living with a hona fide resident of a dis- 
trict and dependent upon such resident for a living is entitled 
to attend school in such district free, though the parents of such 
child are living in another district. 

21. If parents own no home in a particular district, but rent 
while the children go to school there, and return to a ranch 
which they own in another district as soon as school is out, the 
district in which the ranch is located should enroll the children 
upon the census list. 

22. If renters renting by the year and having no other home 
send children to school, the district in which they are residing 
in a rented house should enroll the children. 

If renters rent by the month, leaving when school is out,, 
and having a fixed home elsewhere, the children should be en- 
rolled in the district where the fixed home is located. 

If renting by the month and having no home elsewhere, al- 
though leaving when school is out, the children should be en- 
rolled in the district where they rent. 

If the mother votes in a certain district living there with the 
children, that would be her residence and the children should be 
enrolled in such district. 



SALARY. 



1. A teacher's salary can be legally increased during the 
term for which he is employed only at a regular or special meet- 
ing of the school board. 

2. If a teacher is engaged by the year at an annual salary, 
vacations are not deducted. If he is employed by the month, 
and paid a fixed sum per month, vacations are deducted, if there 
is no contract to the contrary. A teacher could just as lawfully 
claim pay for the long summer vacation as for the customary 
holiday vacation. 

3. A teacher can not be legally dismissed before the expira- 
tion of the time for which she is engaged "without good cause 
shown," and if so dismissed she can collect full salary; Provided, 
She holds herself in readiness to fulfill her part of the contract. 



60 



4. Teachers are legally entitled to receive the full amount 
of the salary agreed upon between them and the board of direct- 
ors. They are not compelled to accept as payment for services 
rendered the warrants of the district, when such warrants are 
not worth their face value. 

5. The board of directors has no right to deduct from a 
teacher's salary for legal holidays occurring during the school 
term. 

6. A teacher may collect salary to the amount of actual 
damage suffered by the failure of the board of directors to fulfill 
its part of the contract. 

7. If a school board closes a school during the term on 
account of the prevalence of a contagious disease, the teacher 
does not lose his pay, unless he consents to lose it; Provided, He 
holds himself in readiness to teach, subject to the order of the 
board. 

8. The school board must pay teachers for the time school 
has been closed for any reason within the regular term; Pro- 
vided, The teacher is ready and willing to fulfill his part of the 
contract. 

9. A teacher may collect salary for the number of months 
specified in the contract entered into with the board of directors 
of the school district where he teaches; Provided, the directors 
have not contracted with the teacher to pay wages in excess of 
the revenues for the year. 

10. If a teacher is ready to begin school at the time speci- 
fied in his engagement, and owing to neglect of duty on the part 
of the school board, can not do so, he is not compelled to make 
up the time thus lost, but is entitled to his salary from the time 
specified in such engagement. 

11. If a teacher is present at the school house on a stormy 
day and waits a reasonable length of time for pupils who fail 
to appear, he is entitled to pay for that day. 

12. If, with the consent of the directors, a teacher holds 
school on a legal holiday to make up for a day lost, the teacher 
is entitled to pay for the full month. 

13. If the board of directors closes the term of school before 
the expiration of the time contracted for, the teacher being ready 



61 

to fulfill his part of the contract, the board is liable for the 
teacher's salary for the full term agreed upon. 

14. There is no law authorizing a teacher to dra'W his salary 
for the two weeks spent in attending the Normal Institute. 



SCHOOL. 

1. The departments of a school can not be legally considered 
as separate schools. 

2. The president and treasurer of the school board can not 
legally remove the school from its quarters, unless authorized so 
to do by the board of directors in session assembled. 

3. The three months referred to on page 44 of the School 
Law is the time necessary to comply with the requirements for 
holding the organization of a district. The four months' term 
is necessary to entitle the district to. receive its share of the 
general school fund. 

4. The district school board has the full right to decide 
where school shall be held. 

5. Where a school is conducted as a public school, even 
though it is supported by other than public school money, it will 
"be proper to include that part of the term coming after the five 
months provided for by the school fund, as if it were also sup- 
ported by the public school fund, and the teacher should make 
Jier report for the whole time during which the school was held. 

6. The three months' school required by law to hold the 
organization of a district and secure an apportionment should be 
held between July 1st and June 30th of the year following. 

7. If a school teacher is engaged to teach a school in a dis- 
trict and is paid even in part from the public school fund, the 
school is a public school, open to all children eligible to attend 
school in the district, and such a school must be controlled as any 
other public school is, even if supported in part by private sub- 
scription. 

8. If the extra two months of school which are partially 
paid for by donations from the citizens are held in the school 
house and the school is conducted as a public school, the addi- 
tional months should be counted as a part of the term of school 
for the year. 



62 



9. While a school board would, If they felt so disposed, 
have a right to establish a summer school, they would not have 
the right to limit the attendance to those pupils recommended 
by the teachers, and some others, and requiring those who 
desire to attend the school without the recommendation to pay 
their own tuition. It would, however, be legal to establish such 
a school for certain grades, limiting the attendance to the spec- 
ified grades. 

10. The law requires that school shall be taught five 
days in the week. There is no provision which would make it 
illegal to hold school on Saturday. 

11. The law gives school directors the sole power to ar- 
range the length of the term, number of teachers to be employed, 
grade of work to be done, etc., in the public schools of the 
district. 

12. A school board has the right to legally appropriate 
money to carry on a second or third school to be located in 
various parts of the school district when the location of the 
school population seems to demand such an arrangement to 
justly provide educational privileges for the greatest possible 
number of children residing in the district. 

13. The district board has the right to permit the location 
of the school to be changed temporarily, although it is expected 
that in this as in all other matters the welfare of the whole 
district will be considered. 

14. The county superintendent has the right to order closed 
any school in a district that does not comply with the law, by 
order of the board of health. 



SCHOOL BUILDiNGS. 

1. A taxpayer of a district can not dictate for what purpose 
the school building can be used. The school directors are the 
legal custodians of the school property. 

2. The site for a school building in districts of the third 
class can be selected or changed onlj" by a vote of the electors 
taken at the annual meeting, or a special meeting legally called. 

3. A board of school directors can not legally change the 
site for a school building which has been selected by a legal 
vote of the electors of such district. 



63 



4. When the electors of a school district, at a legal meeting, 
vote to erect a building on the school site of the district to be 
used as a teacher's residence, and vote a special tax for that pur- 
pose, such action legally authorizes the directors of the district 
to contract for the erection of such a building. 

5. Directors of first and second class districts have a right 
to sell a school building when directed so to do by the electors 
at a special meeting called for that purpose. Such sale should 
be made in the manner prescribed by the electors, which should 
be at public sale after proper advertisement. 

6. School must be held in a building situated within the 
boundaries of the district. 

7. The school directors constitute the custodians of the 
school property of the district, and may at their option permit 
the use of the school house for other than school purposes. Any 
money thus obtained should be considered a part of the district 
school fund, and should be accounted for accordingly. 

8. The power to iix the site for school houses necessarily 
includes the power to fix the location of the school, and after 
a majority of the voters of the district (third "class) have decided 
to have the site of the school house in a certain portion of the 
district, it would hardly be held as within the power of the board 
to defeat the will of the electors by establishing a school in 
some other place. 

9. The electors of a district are the only persons who 
have power to levy tax for the purpose of building school houses. 

10. Other buildings than the school house may be used for 
school purposes if the board so desires. 

11. The school board of a third class district has no right to 
move school buildings unless directed to do so by vote of the 
electors of the district. 

12. No petition is necessary to bring the question of select- 
ing a site for a school house before the electors concerned. 

13. The question of moving a school building or erecting a 
new one may be decided at any regular meeting of the electors. 
It is not necessary that the question be announced in the notice 
of the regular meeting. 



64 



14. The location of a school house is foi^ no definite time> 
A vote may be taken on the question of moving the school 
house as often as a meeting for the purpose can be legally called. 

15. In building a school house the board of directors must 
keep within the appropriation of the electors. If it is desired to 
spend more money than the original apropriation, a meeting 
of the electors must be held to determine whether they will 
authorize the additional expenditure. 

16. The law does not specify the manner in which a school 
board shall proceed in the matter of building a school house or 
whether such board shall advertise for bids or not. The board 
is permitted to exercise discretion in the matter, having in view 
at all times, the best interests of the district. 

17. A district board has the control of the school house and 
can not be compelled to open the house for other than school 
purposes, even though the citizens of the district so request. 

18. As the school board of any district has the control of 
the school house, if the board sees fit to permit the use of the 
school house for a subscription school it has the right to do so. 
It may also permit .the use of the text books owned by the dis- 
trict. It has no right to permit the use of the district's fire wood 
or to in any way make an expenditure of the district's money 
for the subscription school. 

19. The members of the school board are the legal cus- 
todians of school property and a taxpayer of the district can 
not dictate for what purpose the school building can be used. 

20. The matter of moving a school house can be voted upon 
at the annual May meeting without being mentioned in the no- 
tices, while at other meetings the notices must state the busi- 
ness that is to be transacted. 

21. The electors of a school district, even though they are 
not taxpayers, have the right to vote to move a school house. 
If the majority vote is in favor of moving the school house, it 
is not necessary to call another meeting to select the site, if 
no mention of a site was made in the announcement of the meet- 
ing previously called. The school board may decide upon the 
site. 

It is necessary that all of the three notices posted in re- 
gard to meeting shall read the same as to time of opening, etc. 

22. The electors of a district can not compel the board to 
hold school in an unsafe building, nor to repair the same. 



65 



23. A school house located in an annulled district may be 
sold by order of the county superintendent and the proceeds 
turned into the county general fund, unless the territory of 
such annulled district is attached to another district, in which 
case the school house belongs to the latter district. 

24. A sale of a school house, unless authorized by vote of 
the electors of the district, is void and may be set aside in the 
proper proceedings instituted by any elector of the district or 
by the county superintendent. 

25. If a majority of the board of school directors decides 
that the school house of the district may be used for church 
purposes, the building may be so used. The law gives the 
charge of the school house and other school property of the dis- 
trict entirely to the school board. 

26. The proposition to build a school house includes pro- 
curing a site therefor. The interpretation of the law relative 
thereto is: First, that a vote is necessary; second, that if the 
land were purchased without such a vote, the sale would be in- 
valid; third, section 45, page 39, of the School Law, will govern 
the qualifications for voters. 



SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

1. Organized territory can not be legally detached from one 
district and added to another by the county superintendent 
without a petition from the residents of the territory, except 
in cases where the boundaries are conflicting. 

2. In the organization of new counties by the general as- 
sembly the county lines, in a few cases, divided organized school 
districts into two parts, leaving the district in two counties; 
in such case, the district should be considered as a joint district. 

3. A new school district, as soon as its organization is 
complete, is entitled to its share of the special fund standing 
to the credit of the old district, of which it was formerly a part; 
also to receive each month its share of the uncollected special 
tax; providing, always, that a school has been commenced in 
the district in good faith. 

4. Failure to open a school in a newly organized district 
within six months from the date of organization, makes void 
all proceedings pertaining to the formation of the district, un- 



66 

less the time for opening a school therein be extended to eight 
months by the county superintendent. 

5. Four months of school in each school year are neces- 
sary in order that a district may hold its organization. (See 
sections 30 and 77.) Three months of school are necessary to 
entitle a district to its share of the public funds. (See section 
75.) This practically makes four months of school necessary 
in each district. 

6. A school district created from organized territory, 
which is already bonded for building purposes, can issue new 
bonds to an amount not to exceed the difference between its 
share of the present bonded indebtedness and three and one- 
half per cent, of the assessed value of its property, both real 
and personal. 

7. A new district can not be legally organized with less than 
ten persons of school age residing therein. 

8. A school district can not be legally divided so as to leave 
fewer than fifteen persons of school age in the old district. 

9. A district having an area of less than nine square miles 
can not be divided for the purpose of forming a new district. 

10. In the organization of a new school district, the law 
requires two-thirds of the votes cast to be favorable. 

11. It is not within the province of the State Superin- 
tendent to take any part whatever in the organization of a new 
school district. He may, however, as a member of the State 
Board of Education, pass upon the legality of such organization 
when an appeal is taken to the board from the decisions of the 
county superintendent. 

12. A school district, having kept up its organization and 
maintained a four months' school during the year, can not be 
annulled merely for the reason of having failed to make the 
annual report. The secretary of the district is the culpable 
party in such a case, and is liable on his bond for any loss that 
may result to the district by reason of his negligence. 

13. No school, except one duly organized according to law, 
is entitled to recognition as a public school, either in the dis- 
tribution of funds or in any other official way. 

14. The conditions prescribed for the formation of a new 
school district out of unorganized territory do not apply to the 



67 



formation of a new district out of one or more old districts. 
(Section 27 of the School Law.) 

15. The county superintendent exercises his own dis- 
tion in the matter of organizing a new district, even though a 
petition may have been duly presented. 

16. "Section 32 of the School Law provides for distributing 
any school funds remaining to the credit of a district when a 
new one is formed from one or more old ones, but I have found 
no law providing for the payment of the indebtedness of a dis- 
trict in case it should be disorganized and wiped out of exist- 
ence. To my mind, it follows that the legislature never intended 
that a school district should be disorganized until all its out- 
standing obligations are provided for. I do not say that the 
superintendent might not declare the district annulled, and at 
the same time provide in the order in which it was contracted 
for the payment of such indebtedness by the district to which 
the territory should be attached, providing such district should 
consent thereto. He certainly should not make an order annul- 
ling the district until some provision is made for the payment 
of its outstanding warrants, and if he have done so, in any case, 
it could not have the effect to cancel such indebtedness or make 
it invalid." 

17. In the matter of the presentation of a petition for the 
organization of a new district, the statute provides that if, in 
the judgment of the county superintendent, the school interests 
of the districts affected by the proposed change will be best pro- 
moted by such change, he shall direct some one of the peti- 
tioners, who is a legal voter, to notify each elector residing 
within the district so to be formed, etc., to attend a meeting, at 
which the question of organizing a new district shall be deter- 
mined by vote of the electors. 

This language leaves it entirely to the discretion of the 
county superintendent whether or not he will call such meeting, 
or whether or not the best interest of the districts will be pro- 
moted by such change. The matter is not subject to review by 
the State Board of Education, unless it appear that there is 
an absolute abuse of such discretion. 

18. A district may be annulled when, for the period of one 
year, it has failed to maintain a school, keep up its organiza- 
tion of officers, and make its annual report as required by law. 

19. In the organization of a new district, the county su- 
perintendent may transfer a family to another district. (Sec- 
tion 29, 1897, School Law.) 



G8 



20. A portion of unorganized territory may be annexed to 
a school district by the county superintendent upon petition of 
the majority of the legal voters resident within the territory 
to be so annexed. 

21. More than one section of unorganized territory may be 
added to the district upon petition to the county superintendent 
of a majority of the legal voters within the territory. 

22. A school district of the second class becomes a first 
class district when the census returns show that said district 
has a school population of 1,000 or more. 

23. In the organization of a new district, it is legal to take 
cognizance of persons of school age residing within the limits 
of the proposed new district, whether the said persons are on 
the census list or not. 

24. A two-thirds vote of the electors is necessary in order 
to organize a new district. 

25. The matter of organizing new school districts is one 
mainly in the discretion of the county superintendent of schools, 
subject to the provisions of section 28 of the School Law, pro- 
viding that no city or town shall hereafter be divided into two 
or more districts, and the districts of the first class shall not be 
divided except upon a vote of the electors of the district, and 
that no district shall be divided for the purpose of forming a 
new district unless it contains more than nine square miles, nor 
unless the remaining portion of the district shall contain more 
than fifteen persons of school age. 

26. Territory belonging to a joint district can not be de- 
tached from or attached to an adjoining district without the con- 
sent of all the county superintendents interested in such joint 
district. 

27. In case of a new district formed from one in which text- 
books are furnished free, the question of supplying free text- 
books in such new district must be submitted to a vote of the 
people. 

28. Territory detached from a district which has been 
bonded is not released from taxation to pay both principal and 
interest of such bonds. Such detached territory is liable for 
such taxation until the bonds have been fully discharged, the 
same as if it had remained a part of the original district. 



69 



29. "Whenever any district shall, for a period of one year, 
fail to maintain a school and keep up its organization of officers 
and to make its report as required by law, the county superin- 
tendent may declare such district annulled and annex the terri- 
tory to an adjoining district or districts." Therefore, the mere 
fact that school has not been held in a district is not sufficient 
to warrant the county superintendent in annulling the district. 

30. At the meeting held for the purpose of determining 
whether or not a new district shall be organized, only those liv- 
ing within the boundaries of the proposed new district have a 
right to vote. Those living in the district from which the new 
district is to be formed have no voice in the matter. 

31. It is not necessary that there should be ten persons of 
Bchool age in territory detached from one district and attached 
to another, but there must be left fifteen persons of school age 
in the district from which such territory is taken. 

32. Territory annexed to a school district is liable for the 
debts of the district from which it was detached to the extent 
of the tax already levied against such territory at the time of the 
division of the district. 

33. Under the statute the judgment of the county superin- 
tendent in matters of the division of school districts is final. 

34. The only way in which any portion of a joint district 
can be taken from the joint district and annexed to another is by 
going through the procedure mentioned in section 31, page 31, of 
the School Law. The joint district would have to first be 
annulled with the consent of the county superintendents and a 
majority vote of the electors of said joint district. The territory 
should then be annexed to the other district, in accordance with 
the requirements of section 29. 

35. When a school district has been annulled and its terri- 
tory is being annexed to other districts, people wishing to become 
members of other districts may petition to have land other than 
their own, and on which no one is residing, annexed with their 
land to other districts. 

36. District boundaries can only be established as specified 
in the School Law; they can not be fixed by agreement on the 
part of members of school boards. 

37. A county superintendent has not the right, after bound- 
aries are established in a new district, to record "amended 



70 

boundaries" for all the districts, upon his own motion, changing 
them from what they were at first. 

38. As to whether, in counting the number of pupils left in 
a district after a division has been made, the count is made from 
the present actual residents or from the number contained in the 
last census list, clearly it is expected that fifteen persons shall 
actually be shown to be residing in the district after the division 
is made. 

39. Since the law says positively that when school districts 
of the second class shall attain a school population of 1,000 or 
more there shall be elected one director for three years, one 
director for four years, and one director for five years, etc. (sec- 
tion 42, page 37, School Law), it is really obligatory that a dis- 
trict shall organize as a first class district after attaining the 
specified population. 

40. Directors can not exercise the powers given electors of 
districts of the third class after filing annual census of 350 
children previous to the annual election. The board will re- 
organize after the annual election and after the census list is 
examined, compared as required of the county superintendent in 
section 64 of the School Law, and is found to be correct in giving 
the district the necessary number for a second class district. 

41. When an acre of land has been taken by a school district 
under the provisions of chapter 31 of the General Laws, if it has 
been used for school purposes and no other, it belongs to the 
school district, and not to an individual who has recently made 
purchase of the quarter section of which such acre is a part. The 
Individual purchasing the land can not collect rent from the 
district and can not demand pay for the land. 

42. There is only one way in which a portion of a school 
district may be detached from said district, and that is in accord- 
ance with the last portion of section 29, page 29, of the School 
Law, which gives the county superintendent the right to detach 
territory in one school district and annex it to another school 
district upon petition in either case of a majority of the legal 
voters of the territory to be annexed. 

No provision is made for simply detaching territory from a 
district, so that a person who can not send a child to a school 
held in the district will be exempted from paying the special tax. 

43. When a school district has been divided, in the division 
of funds between the old district and the newly organized district, 
the clause in section 32 of the School Law which states that 



71 



"after providing for all outstanding debts, etc.," can not be inter- 
preted to mean contracts made with teachers for certain months of 
school which are yet untaught. No debt exists for the months of 
teaching which are yet to come. 

44. The county superintendent can not transfer territory 
from one district to another, except when both districts are 
located in the county of which he is superintendent. 

45. It is not required by law that the petitioner fo^ territory 
to be annexed to a school district should be the owner of such 
territory. 

46. The county superintendent has the right to grant or not 
to grant a petition for the establishment of a new district, and 
the State Superintendent has no right whatever to compel any 
county superintendent to grant such a petition if, in the county 
superintendent's judgment, it is not wise or desirable. i 

47. A county superintendent has a right to detach a portion 
of one district from said district and attach it to a contiguous 
district upon petition of a majority of the legal voters residing 
within the territory to be so annexed. It is not necessary that 
the consent of the voters residing in the district to which the 
territory is to be annexed should be obtained. 

48. Unoccupied land can only be transferred from one dis- 
trict to another when transferred with other territory upon which 
people reside. 

49. It would be illegal to detach territory from a certain 
school district, leaving it as unorganized territory, since the only 
provision made for detaching territory is upon petition request- 
ing that said territory be attached to some other district. 

50. If a district contains nine square miles or less, so that 
any territory detached from it will leave it with less than the 
area required by law, it would be illegal to detach any territory 
upon petition of the residents of that territory, even though the 
people of both districts are willing to have the transfer made. 
In making a transfer of territory it is not necessary that the 
boundary lines should conform to the section or half section lines, 
although much trouble is avoided by so arranging the lines if 
possible. 

51. A portion of a joint district can be detached from said 
district and attached to another only under the provisions of sec- 



tion 31 of tbe School Law, unless cause for annulling the district 

exists. 

52. A school district in order to maintain its organization 
must, among other requirements, maintain at least four months' 
school each school year. 

53. Section 75, page 62 of the School Law requires each 
school district to maintain a public school at least three months 
in each school year. A district which holds no school, but whose 
pupils by authority of the school board attend school in another 
district, the school board paying tuition to such other district, 
does not comply with such requirement and is not entitled to its 
pro rata share of the general school fund. 

54. If an attorney is employed to defend an action brought 
against the district, then the district must pay his fees; but if 
brought against the individual directors, they must pay their 
own attorneys' fees. 



TAXES. 



1. A vote in favor of levying a tax for building purposes 
is not sufficient to authorize the directors of a district to erect 
a school building when such tax has been collected. There must 
be a vote by the electors directly upon the question of building 
a school bouse. 

2. Lands to which title has not been obtained from the gov- 
ernment at the time school bonds are issued by a district of which 
such lands form a part are not subject to tax for the payment 
of such bonds. Hence, if said lands are set off or detached from 
the district before title is perfected, they are not subject to a bond 
tax in the original district when title is complete. 

3. Where a tax levy has been certified to the county com- 
missioners it can not be reconsidered, but it may be reconsidered 
if the certificate has not been filed. 

4. The directors of a school district have a legal right to 
certify a special tax to the county commissioners without a vote 
of the electors. In districts of the third class such tax must 
not exceed fifteen mills on the dollar. If a vote of the electors 
has been taken in the district, then the directors should certify 
the amount voted. 



5. A district board of the third class can legally certify a 
special tax to the board of county commissioners without a vote 
of the electors of the district. 

6. After a district has voted a special tax, and such tax 
has been certified to the county commissioners by the directors, 
it can not be reconsidered or amended, nor can the board of di- 
rectors make a new levy; but it may be reconsidered if the certifi- 
cate has not been filed. 

7. When the electors of a school district, at a legal meeting, 
vote to erect a building on the school site of the district, to be 
used as a teacher's residence, and vote a special tax for that pur- 
pose, such action legally authorizes the directors of the district 
to contract for the erection of such a building. 

8. The board of county commissioners has not authority to 
change a special tax levy certified by the board of directors. 

9. In a third class district, the tax levy has to be submitted 
to the voters. Twenty days' notice of such meeting must be 
given. 

10. "The county commissioners must make a levy that will 
be enough for four months of school at the rate of $40 per month; 
they can levy more, but not less." 

11. If the directors fail to certify the amount of the special 
tax levy the county commissioners may make a levy sufficient 
to maintain a four months' school, the tax in no case to exceed, 
fifteen mills. 

12. When the special tax levy has been certified to the 
county commissioners, it can not be reconsidered, nor have the 
commissioners any authority to make another than that certi- 
fied, except in the case of bonded districts. 

13. The fifteen-mill limit of special taxation applies only to 
third class districts. 

14. There is no limit to the special levy in first and second 
class districts. 

15. The fact that the head of a family pays a tax in a cer- 
tain school district does not of itself give his children the priv- 
ileges of the school in that district. Children may attend school 
free of charge only in the district in which their parents or 
guardians are bona fide residents. 



"4 



16. Section 1, page 316, Session Laws, 1891, contemplates 
that the two mill tax therein provided shall be apportioned among 
the school districts per capita, and not $160 for each school dis- 
trict. The $40 per month therein provided is established as a 
basis in estimating the teachers' salaries. 

17. It is lawful to collect special school taxes on range stock 
in districts where they are located. 

18. The treasurer can hold funds received in payment of 
taxes, other than special school tax, and levy for the school tax. 

19. In case an assessor should alter a levy certified by^ a 
district school board, he is liable civilly and criminally. 

20. A district board can not raise a tax levy decided upon by 
the electors of the school district after it has been certified to 
the county clerk. The board of commissioners can not raise this 
levy if the requirements of the law have been complied with so 
far as the amount is concerned. 

21. The law gives no authority to change the school tax of 
a resident of one district to another district. 

22. The directors of a school district have a legal right to 
certify a special tax to the county commissioners in case the 
electors neglect to fix the levy. Such a tax must not exceed 
fifteen mills on the dollar, and if a vote of the electors has been 
taken in a district, then the directors must certify the amount 
voted by the electors. 

23. The directors can not change a levy made by the electors 
of a district, even although it may be* insufficient to carry on the 
regular term of school in the district. 

24. In case a district rents a class room from one of the 
churches of a town for school purposes, such renting would not 
make the church property taxable. 

25. When a levy has been made by electors, it is not in the 
power of the school board to raise the levy made. This applies 
to a third class district. If it is a second class district, the right 
to make the levy rests entirely with the school board. 

26. There is no law authorizing the levy of a tax for a sink- 
ing fund, but section 63 of the School Law does authorize the 
levying of a tax for building purposes. This law has been inter- 
preted to mean that the tax levied under it must be for a specific 
purpose, as for building a school house, purchasing a site, etc. 



To 



27. The special tax levy should be made previous to sending 
in the annual report of the secretary of the district. The levy 
can be certified to legally by two members of the board. 

28. It is the duty of the board of county commissioners to 
levy such a rate above two mills as may be necessary to produce 
the amount needed per capita to enable each school district in 
the county to maintain a public school four months in each year, 
as required by law, and as shown by the county superintendent's 
certificate provided for in the same section. The board of com- 
missioners can be compelled to do this by mandamus if necessary. 

29. The county commissioners have no right whatever to 
make a general levy of one mill, since the law plainly states that 
the minimum rate is two mills, which must be increased by the 
commissioners to whatever shall be required for the purpose as 
specified to them by the county superintendent of schools. 

30. According to legal decisions in this state, a special tax 
can be voted at other than the annual meeting. Paragraph 4, sec- 
tion 63, page 53, of the School Law has been interpreted, in con- 
nection with the introduction of section 63, to authorize this. 

31. Section 4028 M. A. S. is clearly in conflict with the act 
of 1899, and it is clear that so muph of said section as conflicts 
with the act of 1899 is expressly repealed, and that county com- 
missioners are limited only by their discretion in making levies 
for school purposes since April 8, 1899, that being the date on 
which the act took effect. The minimum amount of two mills is, 
however, not changed. 



TEACHERS. 



1. The teacher's legal authority over his pupils is confined 
to the school grounds. 

2. Two members of a school board have the right to dis- 
miss a teacher providing their action is taken at a regular 
or special meeting of which all members of the board have 
notice. But a teacher having a contract with the board can. not 
be dismissed without good cause for such action being shown. 
(Section 60, last clause.) 

3. A school board has a legal right to require such qualifi- 
cations of teachers as seem to them to be for the best interests 
of the school, provided such qualifications do not confiict with 
those required by the state. 



TG 



4. A teacher can not be legally dismissed before the expi- 
ration of the time for which she is engaged "without good cause 
shown," and, if so dismissed, she can collect full salary, provided 
she holds herself in readiness to fulfill her part of the contract. 

5. Section 60, School Law of Colorado, contains the follow- 
ing statement as the closing sentence: 

"No teacher shall be dismissed without cause shown, and 
such, teacher shall be entitled to receive pay for services ren- 
dered. At the top of page 80, Seventh. Biennial Report of the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, an official decision states 
'that a teacher can not be legally dismissed before the expiration 
of the time for which she is engaged, without good cause shown,' 
and if so dismissed slie can collect full salary, provided she 
holds herself in readiness to fulfill her part of the contract." 
The following is the decision of the Supreme Court of Michigan 
(April 30, 1880) in the case of Dewey vs. Union School District: 
"If the school board closes the school during the term because 
of the prevalence of a contagious disease, the teacher does not 
lose his pay, unless he consents to lose it, provided he holds 
himself in readiness to teach subject to the order. of the board. 
There may be a conditipn of things which makes it eminently 
expedient and prudent to stop the schools, but no rule of justice 
will entitle the district to visit its misfortunes upon the teacher 
who had no agency in bringing it about." (Dewey vs. District, 
43 Michigan, 480.) It will thus be seen that the official decision 
of this department contained in the Seventh Biennial Report is 
sustained by the highest judicial authority in the state of 
Michigan. 

6. Under a written contract with a school board to teach 
a stated length of time, a teacher is entitled to compensation 
for the full time, although the school should lapse by reason 
of the residents leaving the district; provided the teacher has 
fulfilled her part of the contract and expresses her willingness 
to complete the requirements of her agreement. The school 
board should have taken into consideration the possibility of 
such an event at the time the contract was made. 

7. A retiring school board can not impose upon a succeed- 
ing board an obligation to retain a teacher for a longer period 
than the close of the current school year. (Applies to second 
and third class districts.) 

8. The school board has it in its power to dismiss a teacher 
for incompetency or immorality. But according to section 60, 
last clause, School Law of Colorado: "No teacher shall be 
dismissed without good cause shown, and such teacher shall be 



^ < 

entitled to receive pay for services rendered." In order to make 
good charges of immorality, specific acts must be declared and 
supported by affidavits of witnesses. The possession of a proper 
certificate of qualification is prima facie evidence of compe- 
tency and fitness. Hence the law, section 16, line 7, provides that 
a county superintendent "may revoke certificate of any grade 
at any time for immorality, incompetency or any other just 
cause." If satisfied that the charges can be sustained by proof, 
the proper course for the board is to bring the matter to the at- 
tention of the county superintendent, with a request that he 
make use of the power granted him by the law. 

9. Respecting the jurisdiction of teachers over pupils on 
their way to and from school, it may be stated that the legal 
decisions in the majority of states recognize the authority of 
the teacher as concurrent— that is, joint and equal— with that of 
the parents. In some states, decisions have been made which 
give the school authorities some control over pupils and their 
conduct after they have reached home from school. However, 
authority over pupils when not on the school premises should 
be confined to protecting and promoting the welfare of the 
school. Such acts only as directly affect harmfully the discipline 
and teaching of the school should be taken cognizance of. For 
example, truancy, wilful tardi'ness, quarreling with other chil- 
dren, the use of indecent and profane language, etc. The teacher 
should seek the co-operation of the parent, if possible, in such 
matters, for the sake of avoiding unnecessary friction. 

10. No part of the last month's salary of a teacher should 
be paid until the reports required by law are made and filed 
according to specifications. 

11. A school board can not compel a teacher to make up 
time lost during the time a school was closed because of the 
prevalence of a contagious disease; Provided, Said teacher holds 
himself in readiness to teach, subject to the order of the board. 

12. A school board can not legally dismiss a teacher before 
the expiration of the time for which said teacher is engaged 
without good cause shown, and if so dismissed, said teacher can 
collect full salary; Provided, He holds himself in readiness to 
fulfill his part of the contract. 

13. If a teacher employed in the schools is incompetent to 
give instruction in any of the subjects provided in the course 
of study for that district, the board of directors would have cause 
for discharging such teacher. 



14. The board of directors has exclusive jurisdiction in 
the employing and discharging of teachers. 

15. A teacher can draw her wages during the time that 
a school is closed on account of an epidemic. 

16. A contract between a teacher and his substitute is not 
binding upon the board of directors. 

17. Under a written contract with a school board to teach 
a stated length of time, a teacher is entitled to compensation 
for the full time. 

18. A teacher can not be legally dismissed before the ex- 
piration of the time for which he is engaged, v/ithout good cause 
shown, unless there is a clause in the contract making provision 
for such contingency. 

19. A school board may dismiss a teacher for incom- 
petency or immorality. A county superintendent may revoke 
a certificate of any kind at any time for immorality, incom- 
petency or any just cause. 

20. In order to make good charges of immorality or incom- 
petency, specific acts must be declared and supported by affi- 
davits or witnesses. If satisfied that the charges can be sus- 
tained by proof the proper course for the board is to bring the 
matter to the attention of the county superintendent, with the 
request that he use the power granted him by law. 

21. A teacher's only recourse against a school board that 
refuses to issue a warrant for salary is through the courts. 

22. A school board has no right to deduct from a teacher's 
jsala.ry for legal holidays occurring during the school term. 

^3. If a school board employs teachers who do not hold 
^legaji certificates, such board is liable for the teachers' salaries, 
since it is a direct violation of the law to pay such teachers from 
the p-ublic funds. 

24, A teacher is under no obligation to make up time lost 
when school is closed for the purpose of repairing buildings. If 
a teacher absents himself a day or more from his work, he him- 
self being responsible for the loss of time, he must make good 
the loss of time or forfeit his pay. 



79 



25. It is not legal for a board of directors, before the May- 
election, to employ teachers for the following year. (Applies to 
second and third class districts.) 

26. An unlicensed person cannot legally be employed as 
substitute teacher in the public schools of this state. A sub- 
stitute teacher must be provided with the proper certificate. 

27. It is the duty of the teacher to teach high school 
studies when such studies are prescribed by the board of di- 
rectors as a part of the course of study. 

28. Teachers of the public schools are to be paid for the 
term for which they are employed, without regard to the inter- 
vention of holidays. 

29. Teachers are not required to make up holidays which 
occur during the term. 

30. "It has been ruled by Attorney General Engley that a 
teacher has no power to suspend pupils and that the board can 
not delegate to the teacher its statutory power in that matter. 
However, I consider that it would be proper to assume that the 
teacher has the power to temporarily suspend, that is, long 
enough for the matter to be called to the attention of the dis- 
trict board. It would also seem proper, to say that the board 
may act entirely upon the recommendation of the superintendent 
in regard to suspension and expulsion, but the act of suspension 
must be the act of the board." 

31. The teacher has a right to her hour's intermission at 
noon, providing she teaches the requisite six hours through the 
day. She is required to teach school from 9 a. m. until 4 p. m., 
unless the board gives her permission to finish at an earlier hour. 

32. Since the law gives the board the right to employ and 
discharge teachers and to fix and order paid their wages, the 
electors of the district could have no voice in the matter, and 
while the patrons of the school would have a right to circulate 
a petition requesting the board to engage a certain teacher, the 
board would have the right to ignore the petition if they desired 
to do so. 

33. The laws of Colorado do not make it illegal for mem- 
bers of school boards to vote for relatives of any degree as 
teachers. 



80 



34. The teacher of a public school has control to a rea- 
sonable extent of a child during school hours and while on the 
school grounds. A child would not have the right to leave the 
school grounds after he had reached the school in the morning 
or to leave the grounds at noon if he did not go to his home at 
noon, but remained in the school house. 

35. The laws Colorado do not make it possible for a permit 
to teach to be granted to any teacher expecting to enter the 
public school work of this state. 

36. It is the duty of the teacher to teach whatever branches 
may be specified by the school board, since that body is given the 
right to establish a course of study for the school of its district. 
If the teacher has failed to teach the branches requested by the 
board, it would probably not be sufficient reason for the board's 
refusing to sign the warrant for her services as teacher for the 
time she has been employed in the school, yet it is possible that 
it might be held as sufficient grounds for the dismissal of said 
teacher. 

37. School boards have authority to employ special 
teachers for special branches, but such teachers must have valid 
certificates in order to entitle them to be paid from the school 
funds, even though such teaching is done outside of regular 
school hours. 

38. The laws of this state make it impossible for a school 
board to discharge a teacher without some cause that would be 
considered in the courts a sufficient reason for breaking the 
contract between the teacher and the school board. Incom- 
petency, immorality, drunkenness, etc., are the reasons that 
have been held sufficient. 

39. A teacher is not required to do janitor work in this 
state unless the contract into which he has entered with the dis- 
trict board distinctly states that such shall be the case. 

40. If a teacher has been employed to teach a certain de- 
partment of a school, the school board would not have the right 
to close another department and require one teacher to do the 
work of both departments, unless such an arrangement had 
been made in the contract entered into between the teacher and 
the board. 

41. In a district where there are two schools, the district 
teachers should send in separate reports to the county superin- 
tendent and secretary. 



81 



42. The laws of Colorado do not in any way prohibit a hus- 
band and wife from teaching in the same school. 



TEXT BOOKS. 

1. If a school board purchase books to be used by the pupils 
of the district, such books are for the use of pupils attending 
school within such district, and for no other. If residents of the 
district see fit to send their children into adjoining districts, they 
can not compel the district in which they reside to furnish the 
text books for their children. 

2. The board of directors must furnish books for all pupils 
when instructed to do so by a majority vote of the electors of 
their district, as expressed at any regular meeting or special 
meeting called for that purpose. 

3. The laws of Colorado give the entire authority for adopt- 
ing text books to the school directors of the various districts of 
the state. 

4. The county high school committee can furnish free text 
books to pupils of such high school. 



TUITION. 



1. There is no legal provision for the payment of tuition 
out of a fund belonging to a school district. If a tuition is 
charged pupils who attend school in a district other than that 
in which they reside, that tuition must be paid by the parents, and 
not by the district from which the pupils come. (Dick.) 

2. The payment of tuition for the school privileges afforded 
to children attending outside of their own district is a matter 
which the boards of the respective districts must arrange be- 
tween themselves. (Coy.) 

3. The law makes no provision whereby the board of di- 
rectors of a district can appropriate school money to pay tuition 
for the pupils of said district who attend school in another dis- 
trict. (Patton.) 

4. A person, having attained the age of twenty-one years, 
is not thereby debarred from school privileges, but the board 
may require tuition of him. This ruling applies to those who 



82 



may have been under the age of twenty-one at the time the last, 
school census was taken. 

5. A tuition fee may be charged for any person under six 
or over twenty-one years of age. The time of year at which his 
birthday occurs has nothing to do with the matter. 

6. A school board has the right to charge a tuition fee for 
non-resident pupils attending school in the district under the 
control of the board. 

7. The school board of any district has the right to fix the 
rate of and demand tuition from pupils attending from another 
district. 

8. If the home of a family is certified to be in a district, and', 
if the children have been listed upon the school census of that 
district, the children would have the right to attend the school 
without tuition, even if the family spends a large part of the 
year elsewhere. In the case of pupils attending before the family 
moves into the district for the winter, the same rule would apply. 

If the district is the declared home of the family, and if the 
children have been previously listed upon the census list, they 
would have the right to attend the school without tuition, even_ 
if the remainder of the family were at present residing else-- 
where. 

9. Those pupils who are entitled to attend school in a dis- 
trict without paying tuition are those whose parents or guardians 
may legally claim the school district as their residence. 

The laws do not provide for the payment of tuition in high: 
school for pupils above the eighth grade from the public funds 
of the school district. 



WARRANTS. 

1. It does not invalidate a school warrant to specify a rate' 
of interest not exceeding 8 per cent., or to have a date of pay- 
ment specified therein. A county treasurer would undoubtedly 
follow the legal directions as to the rate of interest and time of 

'payment, regardless of what might be written in the warrant, in 
addition to the usual form. 

2. The auditing of bills against a school direct must be per- 
formed by the board of directors at a meeting thereof, and" 



83 



vouchers or warrants issued for the payment of such bills are 
legal only when issued by a vote of a majority of the board at 
such meeting. 

3. A legal notice, under section 68, is a publication for 
twenty days in some newspaper, published at the county seat of 
such county. (Session Laws, 1887, page 405.) 

4. A school warrant payable two years from date of issue 
and in excess of the special tax levy for the current year is 
invalid. 

5. A county treasurer can legally pay only such warrants 
as are issued against the school fund of the current year. 

6. As to whether a school district warrant is legally drawn 
when signed by the president and secretary, and not by the 
treasurer, is a question for the county treasurer of the proper 
county to pass upon when the warrant is presented for payment. 
Should he pay such warrant and afterward, upon investigation, 
it be found to have been issued to some person or persons to 
whom the district was not justly indebted, he, the treasurer, 
would be liable on his official bond by reason of the fact that the 
warrant was not sufficiently authenticated, as provided in section 
58, School Law, which reads: "It shall be the duty of the 
treasurer to countersign all warrants drawn by the president and 
secretary on the county treasurer." 

7. The law does not require the county treasurer to keep 
several accounts of the special fund of a district. 

8. A teacher, having accepted a stipulated salary, can receive 
that salary only by warrants drawn by the district secretary, and 
takes them for what they are worth. It would not be proper for 
the board to simply supplement, by an additional warrant, the 
shrinkage of irregular warrants on account of the discount in 
the market. The deficit may be made good by the board, at a 
regular meeting, voting to advance the salary so as to cover the 
shrinkage in value of the depreciated warrants. 

9. The president of the school board being the principal 
functionary, a warrant drawn without his signature is illegal. 

10. When school district warrants are sold at a bank or else- 
where and a discount is charged, the holder of the warrant must 
bear the loss. 



84 



11. The total amount of school warrants issued must not 
exceed the amount of tax levy for the curernt year. 

12. The only legal restrictions placed upon school directors 
in the matter of issuing warrants are that they must be issued 
to persons to whom the district is legally indebted, and the 
total amount issued must not be in excess of the special tax 
levied for the current year. 

13. Two members of a school board can issue warrants; Pro- 
vided, Such warrants are ordered at a regular meeting or at a 
special meeting, legally called, of which all the directors had 
legal notice. 

14. It is the duty of each member of the board of directors 
to sign all warrants drawn on the county treasurer in favor of 
parties to whom the district is lawfully indebted. If any member 
of the board refuses to sign such warrant, there is no way to 
compel him to do so, except through regular legal procedure. If, 
however, the county superintendent be cognizant of the facts 
and certifies to the county treasurer that the warrant was drawn 
in payment of a just debt legally incurred, the county treasurer 
would be justified in paying such warrant bearing the signature 
of only two members of the board of directors. 

15. "It shall not be lawful for the oflicers of any district to 
issue warrants in excess of the tax levy for the current year." 
The "current year" is identical with the fiscal year, beginning 
December 1st and ending November 30th. 

16. In the absence of any fraud or abuse of trust in the 
issuing of school orders upon the county treasurer, the directors 
of the school district issuing the same can not be held personally 
liable when there are no funds in the county treasury to pay them. 

17. Section 4033 of Mills' Annotated Statutes provides: 

It shall not be lawful for the officers of the district to issue 
warrants at any time in any amount in excess of the tax levy 
for the current year. 

In this provision the words "tax levy" must be construed to 
mean "the revenues of the district," including the county fund, 
the state fund and the fees derived from fines and penalties. 

"If a school district, on account of some unforeseen casualty 
or expense, or for some unexpected failure of revenue, should 
incur an expense in excess of its revenue, it would be its duty 
to levy a sufficient amount of tax the following year to pay such- 
indebtedness, in addition to its expense for said year. 



85 



"No warrants can be issued in excess of the revenue, but a 
certificate of indebtedness should be issued, payable out of the 
revenues of the succeeding year, and it would be the duty of the 
board during the succeeding year to draw a warrant for its pay- 
ment." 

18. A school director has no legal right to refuse to sign 
a properly drawn warrant, issued for any just obligation of the 
district. The warrant might be cashed upon the two signatures 
if the county treasurer is willing to assume the responsibility. 
The only way to compel the director to sign it is by legal pro- 
ceedings. 

19. After a levy is made for a special purpose in a school 
district, and is also made by the county commissioners, warrants 
may be drawn to the amount of the revenue for the current year. 

20. Since no warrant is valid if drawn in favor of a person 
to whom the district is not lawfully indebted, the district has no 
authority to incur the debt for the payment of which the war- 
rant mentioned was drawn. 

21. The county superintendent's signature is of no legal 
value in drawing warrants. 

22. Warrants can not be legally drawn and registered on 
the county high school fund before the levy has been made. 

23. A school district has no right to create a debt except 
through bonding the district in accordance with the provisions 
of section 90, page 71, of the School Law, edition of 1901, and the 
further provision that warrants may be issued before the funds 
to pay them are actually in the treasury; Provided only. That 
the total sum of such warrants does not exceed the revenue of 
the district for the year in which they were issued. 

24. Warrants in excess of the revenue for the year are void. 



YEAR. 



1. The term "year," used in the act entitled, "An act to se- 
cure to children the benefit of an elementary education," is de- 
fined to mean the school year. And the term, "A court of com- 
petent jurisdiction," used in the same act, is defined to mean a 
justice, a county or a district court. 



86 



2. Two schools in one district, holding a five months' session 
each, do not conform to the requirements of the law as prescribed 
in section 71. 

3. The current year is identical with the fiscal year. 

4. The current year begins December 1 and closes Novem- 
ber 30. 

5. The fiscal year, with reference to which all taxes are 
levied, and all revenue matters are provided for, begins with 
December 1st and ends November 30th, while the school year as 
relating to the making of reports, election of officers and term 
in which the necessary months of school must be held, is be- 
tween July 1st and June 30th. 



INDEX OF DECISIONS 



INDEX OF DECISIONS 



A 

APPEAL— Section. Page. 

Remedy for what 1 7 

By whom taken 2 7 

Contain full details 3 7 

From refusal to grant certificate, effect— what papers 

included 16, 17 13 

B 

BIBLE— 

Reading in public school ,. ■• 1 7 

Authority of Directors. 2, 46 8, 32 

Decisions of courts 1 7 

BOARD OP DIRECTORS— 

Buildings, under exclusive control of 16, 49 29,32 

Site for purchased— changed 21,86 29,36 

Appurtenances purchased without vote of electors 17 29 

By-laws, board controlled by 13 29 

Certificates granted by in first-class districts 2, 30 12,30 

Compulsory education, duty of to enforce 1 20 

Contract for payment in excess of revenue void 4 22 

County high school, term of office of board 19 51 

Course of study fixed by 1, 2, 5, 6 7, 8, 26 

May forbid reading of Bible if) 32 

Discipline designated by 1, 2 37 

Elections, time and place of fixed by board 10, 11 39 

Examinations in first-class districts 1 27 

• Funds may be used by to transport pupils, when 52 32 

Furniture, board may purchase 9 28 



90 INDEX. 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS— Continued— Section. Page. 

Government of schools, regulations for 61 33 

Health laws, duty under 47 32 

Mandamus of S7, 21 36, 78 

Members of board 50 32 

Meeting, place of, fixed by 2 53 

Held only on proper notice 3 53 

Attendance, how compelled 87 36 

Majority controls in 69 37 

Officers of, election, first-class districts 5 38 

Secretary and treasurer, district 54 32 

Property, custodian 16 29 

Sale of by 20,55 29,32 

Responsible for 82 36 

Purchase for school, pay for ; 3 27 

Pupils may be expelled by, 5 55 

Not graded by board 53 32 

School, number and location 60 33 

Secretary, compensation 28, 63 30, 33 

Tax, county high school, board certify 18 51 

For library 83 ' 36 

Special certified 14 29 

Teachers, employ and discharge 23, 44, 8, 32 29,32,76,79 

14, 25, 68, 71 78, 79, 34, 35 

Without certificate, board responsible for money paid 

to 73 19 

Qualifications of required by board 18 29 

Text-books 2, 4 81 

Vacancy, how filled, term 5, 7 28 

First-class district 89, 7 37, 38 

BONDS— 

Amount, maximum 8 10 

New district created from bonded old district 6 66 

Election for, necessary requirements 15 10 

Held same time as election of officers 13 10 

Petition and notice, requirements 6, 12, 17 9,10,11 

Electors, number necessary in district 6, 10, 16 9,10,11 

Qualifications 14, 25, 18 10, 40, 11 

Interest on 15 10 

Issued how 15 10 



INDEX. 91 

BONDS— Continued— Section. Page. 

Proceeds, how used 9 10 

Sinking fund not established to pay 11 10 

Tax to pay, lands subject to 4, 2 9,72 

Territory established 28 68 

. c 

CENSUS— 

Actual residence only 5 11 

Names not added after list filed 4 U 

Persons attending State Industrial School 6 12 

Pupils attending county high school 2, 20 49,51 

Who included in 1, 2, 3 11 

CERTIFICATES- 

Annulled for cause only 3 12 

Appeal from refusal to grant, effect, includes what 16, 17 13 

Dated when '. 13 13 

District, where good 11, 56 13, 17 

Examination by board 2, 30 12, 30 

When board authorized to grant 73 19 

Granted on county first grade 59 18 

Reported to county superintendent 32 15 

Duplicate, when issued 65 18 

Endorsement, option with county superintendent 26 14 

Effect 68 19 

In emergency 28, 30 14, 15 

Issued from other county 26 14 

Examination for, when taken.. 27 14 

In first-class district 2 12 

Of county superintendent in own county 21 14 

First grade, requirements for 36, 62, 51 16, 18, 17 

In no way equivalent to life certificate 54 17 

Foreign — 

Of other states not recognized, except 1, 75 12,20 

From other county 63 18 

Issued by county afterwards divided 4 12 

Like Grade — 

To whom issued 43 16 

Oni first grade 41, 42 16 



92 INDEX. 

CERTIFICATES— Continued— Section. Page. 

Like Grade— Continued — 

Not issued on second or third grade 23, 74 14, 20 

Term of 40, 61, 10 16, 18, 13 

Normal Institute, credit for attendance 46, 47 16 

Certificate 50 17 

Refusal, offer to teach for low wages, not cause for 14 13 

Renewal and endorsement 7, 64, 53, 57, 64, 61 13, 18, 17, 19, 18 

Not renewed after expiration 49 16 

Optional with county superintendent 38 16 

How long in force after 33 15 

Second and third grades not renewed 22, 37 14,16 

Issued in one county, not renewed in another 9 13 

Of county superintendents' certificate 47 16 

Extended only by renewal 66 19 

Revocation, cause for, effect 69, 6 19,12 

Appeal from effect , 6 12 

Second grade, term of 70 19 

State, qualifications for 72 19 

State Superintendent, no authority to waive requirements.. 52 17 

When certificate issued by 15 13 

Temporary, not granted 48 16 

Third grade, where teacher has not taught upon 60 18 

Only two to be issued 24 - 14 

CITIZEN— 

Wife of naturalized alien 1 20 

COMPULSORY EDUCATION— 

Board of directors— duty under law 1, 3 20 

Failure 4 20 

Courts, jurisdiction 1 85 

Director, duty under 7 21 

Funds of district, used to enforce 5 21 

Pupils, law does not prohibit expulsion of 2 20 

State School for Deaf and Blind, law does not apply to 6 21 

CONTRACT— 

Board of directors — 

Meeting of to make, requisites 13 23 

Authority of two members to make 1, 15, 2, 8, 6 21, 23, 21, 22, 28 



INDEX. 93 

CONTRACT— Continued— Section. Page. 

Directors not to be interested in— void IG, 17 23 

Party to contract related to director 14 23 

Teacher's — 

Form of, requirements G, 7, 9, 10 22 

Between teacher and substitute, not bind district 16 78 

For term of months, vacation 19 23 

For term exceeding one year IS 23 

For wages in excess of revenue, invalid 4 22 

Electors have no authority to direct 71 35 

Made before annual election to take effect after.. 2, 11, 12 21, 22, 22 

Salary under when school closed 5, G 76 

COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT— 

Board of directors — 

May be prevented from acting under illegal contract by 16 23 

Certificates, how use discretionary power as to granting... 19 14 

Endorsing optional 26, 63 14, 18 

How superintendent examined in own county, re- 
newal 21, 47 14,16 

■ From other state, no authority to endorse 58 17 

Revoke certificate, when -5 12 

Compensation 15 25 

Course of study, advisory powers as to 3,1, 7 24,26,26 

Deputy- 
May be appointed 12 25 

Must be resident of state 17 25 

Compensation 8, 16 24, 25 

Directors- 
Official bonds of, required and approved by 2, 5, 11 24,28 

Removal of 6,20 24,26 

Vacancy in office of recognized— filled 39, 65 31,34 

No authority to fill vacancy in first-class district 89 37 

Expense of office kept within appropriation 14 25 

Funds- 
May prevent board from illegally using 55, 30, 21 17, 48, 26 

Duty of superintendent in reference to 5 45 

High School, has vote as member of committee 19 25 

Bond as superintendent sufllcient IS 25 

Qualifications 7 24 



94 INDEX. 

COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT— Continued— Section. Page. 

School District — 

Conflicting' boundaries 4 24 

Annexation and transfer of territory, discretion 11, 13 25 

Teacher- 
No authority in matter of employing 23 29 

May teach in own county 1 24 

Duties in reference to examination of 9, 10 24 

COUNTY TREASURER— 

Commission on funds 1 9 

Custodian of funds 2, 26 45, 48 

Duty in regard to funds 8, 9 46 

Responsible for funds 6 i 46 

COURSE OP STUDY— 

Board of directors flx 1, 4, 6, 9, 36 26, 27, 80 

Includes what 3, 5, 10 26, 27 

German 7, 8 26,27 

Reports provided for, furnished by county 2 26 



D 

DEBTS— 

Annulled district 16 27 

Bonds, only form of debt 23 85 

Territory detached, held for 32 69 

DIRECTORS— 

Authority only by order of board 78 

Bond — amount, approval 5, 11 

Compulsory education laws, duty under 3, 4 

Contract, when one member refuses to act 15 

Election— 

In joint district 34 

Notice of candidacy 26, 39 

Notice of to county superintendent 4 

Time of in different districts 67,70 

Garnishment, not subject to in official capacity 13 

Mandamus of 36, 75 





35 


24, 


28 




20 




23 




41 


40, 


42 




38 




34 




28 


31, 


, 35 



INDEX. 95 

DIRECTORS— Continued— Section. Page. 

Oath of ofHce, file 10 28 

President may administer 85 36 

President of first-class district, oath 88 ^ 37 

Faihu'e to file, where properly taken 43 31 

Qualification- 
Mayor of town not disqualified 37 31 

District judge Hot disqualified 81 36 

More than one elected from same family 51 32 

Saloon-keeper may be 72 35 

Length of residence required 48 32 

Must qualify within twenty days 24 29 

Must qualify in state 84 36 

Removal from office 62, 76, 73, 20 33, 35, 35, 26 

Not removed by county superintendent 6 24 

Salary, none except secretary 40, 56 31, 32 

Teacher, director can not be 22 29 

Term of office 9 38 

In new district 24, 64 40, 33 

Appointed to fill vacancy 42 31 

Do not hold over in case of no election 41 31 

Vacancy in ofI|ce of— 

When no election held 12 28 

Absence from district works 38,65,74,79 31,34,35,36 

Recognized by county superintendent, when 39 31 

Witness fees, not entitled to 19 29 

E 

ELECTION— 

Annual, when held 2 37 

Business transacted at 2 37 

Notice of failure to give, effect 21 39 

Australian ballot system may be used 35 41 

Bonds, election to vote 15 10 

Requirements of petition arid notice for 12, 17 10.11 

Qualifications to vote at 40 42 

Calling election, how, when 12, 15 39 

Conducting, manner of 3, 20, 27 38, 39, 41 

Presided over by secretary, when 32 41 



96 INDEX. 

ELECTION— Continued— Section. Page. 

Contest, when 29 41 

Directors— 

In joint district 34 41 

Notice of candidacy, when 26 40 

Where no nominee, special election 43 42 

Failure to hold, duty of county superintendent, county 

commissioners 41 42 

Questions, more than one voted upon 1 37 

Special, notice for, requisites 14,19 39 

Following annual on same day 31 41 

Reconsideration of vote of former election 28 41 

Tie vote, procedure 16 39 

Time and place of holding 10 39 

Held at unusual hour 22 40 

Uniting districts 23 40 

Voters, Qualification 8 38 

Qualifications to vote on bond proposition 40 42 

Organization of new district 37 41 

In joint district 30 41 

Challenge of voter 38, 42 42 

Chairman administer oath to voter 36 41 

Voting place, but one in district of third class 33 41 

ELECTOR— 

Board of directors, enjoined by 55, 2 17,43 

Mandamus 50 32 

Director, enjoined by 16 23 

Joint district 30 41 

Qualifications of 3.4, S. 5 43,38,43 

To vote on bond proposition 6, 7. 14. 25 9. 10, 40 

Organization of new district 37 41 

School building, purchase of site 1 43 

Levy tax to build 9 63 

Artesian well for 7 43 

EXAMINATIONS— 

Eighth grade under management of county superintendent. 14 45 

Fees for, how disposed of 8. 9 44 

First-class districts, board conduct 11.15 44,45 



' INDEX, . 97 

EXAMINATIONS— Continued— Section. Page. 

Place and time of holding 35, 12, 4 15, 44, 43 

Not held outside of state " 17 25 

Private, not allowed 13 44 

Questions for 6 44 

Rules for prescribed by State Superintendent 6 44 

State board may review, laow 76 20 

State Superintendent, no authority to provide for other 

than those fixed by law 10 44 

No authority to excuse from 3 43 

Teacher not entitled to pay for time in taking 2 43 

Whole examination at one time 1, 7 43,44 

F 

FUNDS- 

Apportionment of 10 46 

Not to be transferred to other district 14 46 

To pupil attending Union High School, accredited how. 16 47 

Attorney fees, not used for, when 32 48 

Board of Directors, not transfer funds to other district 13 46 

County superintendent, dutj^ in reference to 5 45 

County Treasurer- 
Custodian of 2. 26 45, 4S 

Responsible for 6 46 

Fines and penalties 20, 22 47 

Where credited S, 9 46 

For breach of game and fish laws 23 47 

Suit to recover by district attorney 7 46 

Forfeit by school district, how disposed of 3 45 

General, how used 11, 24 46, 27 

Janitor's salary 33 48 

Insurance premiums, attorney fees, not used for 19 47 

Furniture, not to be used to purchase 3 27 

After ten months' school expenses paid 18 47 

Misappropriation of prevented, recovery 30 48 

Directors liable 29, 31 48 

Board of directors liable 29 48 

New district, when entitled to 17, 27, 28, 3 47, 48, 48, 65 

4 



98 INDEX. 

FUNDS— Continued— Section. Page. 

Pupil, not to be maintained outside of district 29 4S 

Transportation to and from scliool 52 32 

Tuition of to private party, not used for 15 48 

School building, rent received for 7 63 

Singing school, not used for 1 45 

Special and general, of same nature 21 47 

Unused, how disposed of 4 45 

H 

HIGH SCHOOLS— 

County seat only, if third-class district 3 49 

County, board, organization, term of office 10, 19 51 

Building, how provided 17 51 

j District, powers of 7 49 

Organization of district, procedure 9 50 

Supported, how 11, 20 50,51 

Independent of Union High School Law 4 49 

Pupils, who are 1 49 

Tuition, when 12 50 

Union — 

How and where established 5 49 

How supported 8 49 

Under section 4001, M. A. S., and act of '99, what funds 

entitled to 15 50 

Law regarding not repealed by County High School 

Law 4, 13 49, 50 

Districts establishing not exempt from county high 

school tax 14 50 

HOLIDAYS— 

Arbor Day S 52 

Legal, what days are 1, 2 52 

Time between Christmas and New Years, not 4 52 

School month, included in 3 52 

Teacher, not required to teach for 6 52 

No deduction from salary on account of 22, -S, 29 78,79,79 

K 

KINDERGARTEN— 

Teacher's qualification 1 52 



INDEX. 99 



L 

LIBRARY— Section. Page. 

Public school- 
Funds for, how used 3 53 

Tax for, board may levy 2 53 

County high school district 1 53 

N 

NORMAL INSTITUTE— 

Certificate, credit upon for attending 45,1, 5 16,54,54 

Executive committee, meeting 3 54 

Fee for attendance 4 54 

Teacher not entitled to salary while attending 14 61 

NOTICE— 

Annual election 2 37 

Copies, must all be correct 21 64 

Legal requisites 3 83 

Special meeting — requisites 14 39 

P 

PUNISHMENT— 

Board of directors, teacher 1, 2 54, 54 

PUPILS— 

Books of district, can not take into adjoining district 34 30 

Contagious disease excluded from school 6 55 

Expelled or suspended 45, 2, 2 32, 55, 27 

How suspended 30 79 

Notwithstanding compulsory educational law 2 20 

Discipline of 13 56 

Dropped from school roll, when 14 56 

Non-resident — 

Board may prevent attendance of 4 55 

Tuition 6, 7 82 

Punishment, remedy for unreasonable 1 54 

Rules with reference to 2 54 

Studies, required to take 12 56 

Teacher, authority over pupil 1,9,34 75,77,80 



100 INDEX. 

PUPILS— Continued— Section. Page. 

Transportation of, when S 55 

Vaccination 9, 15 56 

Who are, and entitled to attend scliool - ..1, 3 55 

Becoming of scliool age during school year 11 56 

Residence 15, S, 9 73,82,82 

RESIDENCE— 

Definition and description 35, 6, 7, 9, 10, 16, 17 57, 57, 5S 

Absence with intention of returniiig IS 58 

Homestead, holding fixes residence 10 57 

Intention governs S 57 

Minor, unmarried 2, 11, 14 56, 58, 58 

Non-resident, defined 1 56 

Pupil, where enrolled, father employed in district 5 11 

Renters 22 58 

Home elsewhere 21 58 

Tax, in two counties, no residence in both 15 58 

s 

SALARY— 

Contract for, in excess of revenue, void ., 9 60 

Teacher, vacations not deducted 2 59 

Entitled to if school closed, when 5, 6 76 

When dismissed without cause 12 77 

Not paid till reports filed 10 77 

Not entitled to when attending Normal Institute 14 '61 

Increased during term, how 1 59 

SCHOOL— 

Departments of not counted as separate schools 1 61 

Hours of 31 79 

Location 4, 10, 2, 13 61, 63, 61, 62 

Second in same district, when 12 62 

Subscription school— school building may be used for IS 64 

Summer, who may attend, how attendance limited 9 62 

Supported partly by private funds 5, 7, S 61 



INDEX. 101 

SCHOOL— Continued— Section. Page. 

Term to hold, organization, draw from general fund 3 61 

When held 6 61 

Length required 52, 53, 5 72, 66 

Week, five days— Saturday 10 62 

SCHOOL BUILDING— 

Custody of 1, 17, 25, 19 

Hlectors — building must be authorized by '. 1 

Determine specifications and site 86 

Erecting, manner of proceeding left to board 16 

Expenditure for must not exceed appropriation 15 

Location may be changed, when 14, 11 

Must be in district 6 

Questions concerning decided at regular meeting without 

notice 12, 13, 20 

Sale of, when, proceeds 20, 23, 5 

Site, how selected in third-class districts 2,3,26,21 

Tax for, how levied 9 

Taxation, room rented from church by school, not thereby 

subjected to 24 

Teacher's residence 4, 7 

Use of, for other than school purposes 7, 25 

SCHOOL DISTRICT— 

Annulled, when 18, 29 67, 69 

Annual report, failure to make, effect 12 66 

Area, less than nine square miles, not divided 9 66 

Not divided so as to leave less than nine square miles. 8 66 

Bonds- 
Maximum amount, how estimated 2, 8 9,10 

Amount where district created from another already 

bonded 3 9 

Number of voters necessary in district 16 11 

District, divided, liability for not avoided 9 10 

Boundaries, how fixed 36, 37 69 

Need not conform to legal subdivisions 50 71 

Claims, against district, how audited 2 82 

Classes of Districts — 

Second become first, when 22 68 

Changed from second to first, officers of board 26 30 



62, 64, 


65, 


64 
72 
36 
64 
64 




64, 


63 
63 




63, 


64 


29, 


65, 


63 


62, 


65, 


64 
63 

74 




63, 


73 




63, 


, 65 



102 INDEX. 

SCHOOL DISTRICT— Continued— Section. Page. 

Classes of Districts— Continued- 
Must organize as first class, when 39 70 

Third becomes second, when 40 70 

County Superintendent- 
Authority final in matter of dividing districts 33 69 

Discretion in transfer and annexation of territory. .11, 13 25 

Debts, no right to create except by bond 23 85 

Annulled district 16 67 

Division of district, which part constitute old 66 34 

Where division of county divides, treated as joint 2 65 

Funds can not be loaned 33 30 

Joint District — 

Territory detached from, how 34,51, 26 69,71,68 

Land, owned by for school house 41 70 

New District — 

Establishment of discretionary with county superin- 
tendent 17, 46, 15, 25 67, 71. 67, 68 

Who entitled to vote on question of forming 30 69 

Votes, necessary to organize 10, 24 65, 68 

What funds entitled to 3 65 

Bonds, amount, when created from old under bond... 6 66 

What debts liable for 43 70 

Failure to open school within six months 4 65 

Persons of school age not on census list 23 6S 

Unorganized territory, formation from 14 66 

Persons of school age, number necessary to 7, S, 31, 38 66, 69, 70 

Territory — 

Annexed, what may be 3, 5. 45, 20, 21 69, 71, 68 

Detached, how 1, 42 65, 70 

Consent of voter to detach, not necessary 47 71 

Territory detached, when 47 71 

Must leave nine square miles 50 70 

Can not be detached unless attached to another 49 71 

Detached, liable for debts 32 69 

Transferred from one to another 44, 48 71 

SECRETARY OF BOARD— 

Annual report 12 66 

Custodian of books and papers, duty as to 27, 77 30,35 



INDEX. 103 

SECRETARY OP BOARD— Continued— Section. Page. 

Preside at meeting, when 32 41 

Salary, how fixed 28, 63 30, 33 

STATE BOARD OP EDUCATION— 

Appeal to, remedy for what 1 7 

By party aggrieved 2 7 

Prom county superintendent 2 7 

What must contain 3 7 

Review of examination 76 20 

STATE SUPERINTENDENT— 

Board of Directors, no authority to remove members of — 73 35 

Certificates, may issue, when 15 13 

No authority to endorse from other state 58 17 

Can not waive requirements of law 52 17 

Examination — 

No authority to excuse from 3 43 

Prescribe rules for 6 44 

School district, no voice in formation of new 11, 46 66,71 

T 

TAX— 

Bonds — 

Lands subject to for 2 72 

General, amount of levy 31 75 

How apportioned 16 74 

County commissioners' duty 10, 28, 29 73, 75 

Library, levy made by board 83 36 

School building, tax for, how levied 9 63 

Special- 
Limit of levy 13, 14 73 

Assessor not change levy 19 74 

Not to be reconsidered after certified 3 72 

Certificate not filed, may be reconsidered 3 72 

Amount determined by electors 9, 20, 23, 25 73, 74, 74 

County commissioners, not change levy 8, 11, 12 73 

Certified by board 4, 5, 6, 22, 27 72, 73, 73, 74, 75 

Property subject to, range stock, lands 4, 5, 17 9, 74 

Voted at other than annual meeting 30 75 



104 INDEX. 

TAX— Continued— Section. Page. 
Special — Continued — 

Not transferred from one district to another 21 74 

Sinliing fund, no autliority to levy for 26 74 

TEACHER— 

Board of directors have exclusive right to employ 32 79 

May be related to members of 32 79 

Branches required to teach 27, 36 79, 80 

Certificate, not employed without 8,23 13,78 

Public money paid to teacher without, recovered 55 17 

No permit to teach 35 80 

Contract, damage for violation of 6 60 

For term of months — vacation 19 23 

I 

Not to extend past current year 7, 25 76,79 

Discipline, establish rules of, regulations 13. 61 56,33 

Dismissal for cause 31, IS, 2 30, 78, 75 

Cause for 8, 19, 20, 36, 38 76, 78, 78, 80, SO 

Incompetency 13 77 

Holiday- 
Not deduct from salary for 5, 22 60, 78 

Teaching to make up for lost time 12 60 

Not required to teach for G, 7 52 

Husband and wife may teach in same school 42 81 

Interpreter, no authority of board to employ .- 25 30 

Janitor work, not required to do 39 80 

Normal Institute, credit for attending 1,5, 6 54 

Pupil, authority over 1, 9, 34 75, 77, 80 

Suspend 30 79 

Qualifications 3 75 

Salary— 

When dismissed without cause 4, 12, 3 76, 77, 59 

Holidays, no deduction for 5,22,28,29 60,78,79 

School closed, contagious disease 7, 11, 15 60,77,78 

Closed, neglect of board 10 60 

Closed for repairs on building 24 78 

Closed for other reasons S, 5, 6 60, 76 

Reports not filed, salary not paid 10 77 

When no pupils 11 60 

Warrants not worth face value 4, 8 60, 83 



INDEX. 105 

TEACHER— Continued— Section. Page. 

Special may be employed 37 SO 

Substitute must have certificate 26 79 

Board not bound by contract of with teacher 16 78 

TEXT BOOKS— 

Board of directors adopt 3 SI 

Furnish when 2 81 

Free, furnished by district 27 68 

Where used, by whom 34, 1 30, 81 

High School committee, furnish 4 81 

TUITION— 

Board of Directors fix 2 81 

District can not pay, in High School 1, 3, 10 ■ 81, 82 

Pupil over 21 years of age 4, 5 81 

Non-resident 6, 7 82 

w 

WARRANTS— 

County High School fund, not drawn till levy made 22 85 

Director refusing to sign 18 85 

Drawn and signed by whom, how 6, 9, 27 83, 30 

Fraudulent, payment of prevented by county superintendent 21 26 

Fund of current year 5 83 

Interest, specify rate 1 82 

Issued by two members of board, when 13, 14 84 

Issued when no funds in treasury 16 84 

Issued to whom 12,20 84,85 

Revenue must not exceed 4, 11, 17, 24 83, 84, 85 

Tax levy, may be drawn after 19 85 

Y 

YEAR— 

Defined 1 85 

Current, defined 15,3, 4 84,86,86 

Fiscal 5 86 



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